We've all been there: going back to school after a break. The first week is always exciting. Getting to meet your professors and learning if your friends have some of the same courses as you. But then the second week rolls around, and if you're anything like me, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Now I know many who are reading this must be thinking... How in the world are you in the second week of school already? Many of us just started on Monday?! (or don't start until later, lucky you). Well, our marvelous university decided that if we want a longer summer vacation, which who doesn't want to get out of classes at the end of April, we have to suck it up and come to classes almost as soon as the new year arrives. Which while makes sense, but kind of stinks in the process of having a shorter winter break.
Now, the first week of classes is great and so is the subsequent start of a great semester ahead, but there is something about that second week that just gets on my nerves and almost questions why I decided for this educational endeavor to begin with.
1. Coming to terms with the sad fact that not every week is syllabus week and new material must be covered
While it can be fun just sitting in a course for 50 minutes at a time learning everything about a syllabus, new material must be covered after that first week. The horror!
2. Establishing a new sleep schedule, OH NO!
TBH this is probably one of the worst ones of them all. During breaks (if you're not tirelessly working normal hours like some of us) many are more apt to stay up later and sleep in till noon or later. Once school begins again, you have to condition your body again to get up according to when you have classes each day.
3. Getting into a new routine
Much like getting a more uniform sleep schedule, you have to develop a new routine for the upcoming semester. Planning when to take naps in order to maximize study time, planning meals so you don't have to worry about "what's for dinner" questions. That new routine can be difficult that second week of classes (and later) so don't worry if it doesn't happen right away!
4. Lack of motivation
Everyone experiences that lack of motivation but it seems to come in full force the second week. Everything is coming at you at once, and you just stand there like a deer in the headlights taking it all in. It can be overwhelming and make you want to crawl under your warm blanket and never come out again.
5. Constantly tired
Coupled with that new sleep routine, that second week is when the real information comes at you like a ton of bricks. By the end of each class, you grow more and more tired until at the end of the day you can barely keep your eyes open as you board the bus home. That feeling of tiredness is almost constant until you either a) get used to feeling that way b) sleep enough that you resemble a Koala, who sleep like 20 hours a day, or c) work/stay up so much it beats it out of you.
6. Catching a cold, or worse Senior-itis!
Both are equally as bad. Here at UF they call the season of colds the UF Plague, Which generally occurs within the second week of school. Basically, it amounts to being around new people and not being exposed to so many germs at once. Everyone around you gets sick and it's extremely crippling. This usually occurs around the second week of the new semester.
Senioritis is something many high school students say they catch as they get into their senior years of high school. For college seniors, it is no exception. As a college senior, senioritis is a very real thing, probably worse than in high school, because after college, it's time for a real job (or grad school) which makes the anxiety I never knew I had come out full force. Getting so close to the real world is scary kids, stay young (or golden) Ponyboy!
7. The indecisiveness of what to wear? Do I go cute or hobo?
First week of classes-covered, we're going full cute and primed for the upcoming semester. Exam or finals week- we're going as relaxed and comfy as possible, exams are far more important than our outward appearance. When we have important dates we know to dress up, but what do we do for the second week of school? It's such uncertainty- do I dress cute like I did for the first week of school to keep with the trend or do I go "hobo" style in order to make it seem like I am trying to blend in with my sleep deprived nature of the week? Decisions, decisions...
Here's to making it through the second week (and the rest of the semester) of classes!
(Rest in Peace to ourfearless Leader- General Organa, Carrie Fisher)
