As the first week of school concludes, we college kids must now prepare ourselves for the real commencement of classes, stress, exams, and long nights in the library.

Syllabus week was a good one, intro lectures were a breeze, syllabi coverage was a walk in the park. However, as this easy week comes to a close, we are remembering just what college life is really like- and how to accept it.

These are the four stages college kids go through during their first week back on campus.

1. Excitement

I don’t know about everyone else, but I was excited to be back at school and to get into the swing of things. I was excited to have a new roommate, meet new friends, reconnect with old ones, and begin a new round of classes.

Surprisingly enough, I was even looking forward to campus food again. I mean, I went an entire summer without the Marketplace’s famous salad or a burrito bowl from Wholly Habanero’s.

All in all, I was excited to be back on campus.

2. Remembrance

Once I got into the second lecture of most of my classes, I remembered that “Oh yeah, this is college. I’m here to learn things, and college is really hard.”

All the flashbacks of late night studying in the library, panicking two hours before a test because I missed an entire chapter of material, or receiving a bad grade on an exam after studying for 8 hours straight, came flooding back to me.

“Oh right. College is fun. But all this easy coverage of material will soon transform into this foreign language of ‘What the hell is my professor rambling on about” and “Oh my god, I’ve been lost for fifteen minutes. This is the end.’”

3. Panic

The next stage is panic. Yeah I survived last semester but how? How did I survive all those countless late nights in the library? How did I pass that Chem lab and lecture when I was at a D the entire semester? How do I college?

These questions will probably haunt you for a few hours, or even a few days, but eventually, you’ll move past this anxious stage and remember that you will make it.

4. Acceptance

Now that you’ve moved past the panic stage, you will move onto acceptance and hopefully believing in yourself.

Yeah, you had an absolute abhorrence toward that Chem class last year, but with hard work and perseverance, you did it. You passed the class and you made it out alive because you worked hard and you studied.

Yes, you’re back at college and it’s going to be really hard at times, but you made it here because you’re smart. No one just gets into college, you have to have had good enough test scores, a good enough GPA, and if you survived last year, you absolutely will this year.

Remember to maintain a healthy mindset. If you want a Netflix break, take one. If you need a nap, grab your blanket. If you work to keep yourself healthy and happy, you will have the drive to succeed in school.

So whatever stage you are in right now, I wish you the best of luck throughout the rest of your semester. I know it’s probably impossible to do all these things, but remember to nap hard, watch lots of Netflix, and get your work done.