I am a senior in college, and I want to share what I have learned so far. What is the truth behind coming to college? The truth is you are in college to get an education, to find yourself, and one day get the job you always dreamed of (more like settle for the job that you are hired for). Even though this may be true, did anyone ever mention the phases you go through while you are in college? No? Yeah, me neither, so I experienced them myself. Let's be real, college is hard and stressful. We all reach the point in the semester where we are stressed to the max and just want to throw the towel in. This is where the four phases begin.
The first phase is the crying phase. Yes, I said crying phase. In this phase, everything from this point on makes you want to cry, even the little simple things. You also get to a point where you want to crawl in a corner, eat several pints of ice cream, try to forget about the responsibilities you have and bawl your eyes out. When I went through this phase, I was watching re-runs of an old cartoon on Netflix and I started crying for no reason (Aren't cartoons supposed to make you happy?).
The second phase is the angry stage. In this particular phase, anything and everybody seems to make you angry and all you want to do is scream. So, if you are experiencing this phase or know someone that is, the best advice is to steer clear of their path.
The third phase is the denial stage. Now, let me say something, this phase is CRUCIAL! You start to develop an "I don't care" attitude, you start not to care about anyone, your school work, or anything relevant to your well-being (I still cared about food, though). Not only do you develop that "I don't care attitude", you start to deny the obvious. Your friends, family, advisors, parents, maybe even a professor may say, "You need to rest." or "You look tired." But you deny the facts and respond, "I am fine", even though you are not fine. As college students, we run off fast food and caffeine all day and deny the fact that we need to take care of ourselves. Don't be so in denial.
The last phase is the relief stage. Whew, finally! In this stage, you have successfully completed your tasks for the time being. You are so relieved that Mardi Gras or that school play is finally over so you can relax. During the relief stage, you go back to binge watching your favorite show on Netflix and napping all day.
So, what does that mean? All the weight has been lifted off your shoulders for now. That doesn't mean slack off in your classes, it means you can finally breathe. You still have to work as hard. Oh, did I mention, these stages can occur multiple times within a semester. Although we may go through these stages in college, embrace it, learn from it, and move on because this is the truth about college.