It is hard to believe that what feels like just a few weeks ago, we were moving back into school bundled up in heavy coats and scarves, excited for what a new semester had in store. With only a short amount of time left, the realization that second semester is just about over is starting to hit. Second semester tends to fly before our eyes, and whether you're getting ready for graduation or just trying to push through the last half of junior year, some of our second semester expectations might be beginning to fall short.
1. Spring Weather
Expectation
With spring weather finally approaching, you can sit outside and get some homework done, or maybe hang out with friends on the quad or outside the student center. You can play a game of Frisbee and take in the sun's warm glow. You don't need to study, being outdoors will provide you with all the answers you will ever need in life.
Reality
You haven't left the library in three days. You forgot what sunlight looks like. You can't remember the names of your best friends, and you just got handed another assignment due in two days. It's OK, you will see life outside the library. After finals end.
2. Homework
Expectation
After resting during Christmas break, you are ready to be on your A game. You will do every single reading assigned for a class, start all your papers a week early, maybe even fill out that planner that has been collecting dust on your desk—4.0 here you come!
Reality
You have three papers due on the same day (all of which you haven't started), you've pulled, at least, five all-nighters this semester cramming for tests and you cannot even see your desk under all the piled up work on it (never mind find that unopened planner). Hey, C's get degrees right? Right?
3. Going Out with Friends
Expectation
Woohoo! You finally have some money in the bank after working all break, and can finally afford to go out with the girls. This is the semester you can hit happy hour every Thursday and dance the night away on Saturdays. You'll have a runway-worthy outfit every time you go out, and you'll definitely have the party life out of a movie this semester.
Reality
All that money you saved up from Christmas seems to have disappeared from your bank account in the first three weeks of the semester. Your sweat pants feel a lot more comfortable than a little black dress when it is 40 degrees out and honestly, you'd rather hang out in your dorm room with your best friends watching bad reality TV than put on a full face of makeup to stand in a crowded night club.
4. Eating Healthy
Expectations
This is the semester you will finally stick to your New Year's resolution of eating better. You will have salads every day and never even think about pizza. You'll hit the gym twice a day, drink tons of water and granola will be your best friend. Who needs ice cream in their life? Not me.
Reality
You were able to last on the "salad and water diet" for a few weeks, but now that you're in the middle of the semester, fries and cheese doodles are looking like a much better option. It is easy to eat healthy when you have nothing to do, but between your crazy course schedule and trying to maintain a social life, justifying grabbing a bag of potato chips for dinner has become a lot easier.
5. Midterm Grades
Expectations
You studied super hard, every paper you handed in has been like a page out of one of Shakespeare's plays and your note taking and attendance this semester have been impeccable. You are bound to get an A in every class for midterms. You're basically a super genius this semester.
Reality
You had six midterms, and studying the proper amount of time for all of them seemed impossible. You had to change the spacing on your last paper to make sure it just made the page requirement and your notebooks are filled with doodles of "Ms. Ryan Gosling" and puppies instead of notes on literary theorists. It is no shocker when your midterm grades come back, and you realize it's time to get your butt in gear.
With only a few weeks of the semester left, there's still time to make some of those expectations your reality. Whether you set a goal to do better in your classes or plan to put more time aside for your friends and personal life, you still have a chance to go make that dream semester your real semester. And if not? Potato chips for dinner and staying in on a Thursday night is totally fine, too.
