All too often we view the start of school with dread. Gnashing our teeth, we college students grumble and complain. Just when did our carefree, seamless summer days slip away from us? Our fickle dreams of relaxing after a week of nasty finals, attaining a great summer job, doing lots of Productive Things, spending time with family have either culminated or turned to dust.
I mean, why would we even want to go back to school? Syllabus week gives us false hope that this time we surely will be organized and efficient. We say hi to friends we haven't seen over three months and promptly don't see much of them for another semester. College is work and we aren't ready.
Except, ready or not, school is starting very soon. And I, for one, am actually excited.
1. Seeing friends again
Sure, I might be totally will be busy this semester. But that doesn't mean I can't try a little harder than last year to really spend time with them. Honestly, tell me you're dreading school and see if you don't smile when you see your friends around. You will and it will be great.
2. The bittersweet return of structure
For some, summertime can be a rush of hectic activity. For others, it's a meandering drift through time. It doesn't really matter which kind of summer you've had. All the classes, work, clubs and activities blend into a unique scheduled structure that is best appreciated after time away.
3. A fresh start
You know, Adult Life isn't divided up into neat slots of time like "spring semester freshmen year" or "next Thanksgiving break." Instead, you have New Years and tax deadlines to mark the passage of time. Pretty boring and unspecific, right? That's why your dad can't ever keep track of how old you are.
If that isn't nice enough by itself, you now have excuses to buy planners and half the stock of your local office supply store so you can pretend it will help you keep your life together. A $20 planner? You can call it an "investment" instead of "senseless splurging."
4. School permits a little laziness
During the summers I cook, clean, grocery shop, budget and do all sort of other boring time-consuming things. Comparatively, the school year is pretty simple. If I make I mess, I ignore it until the weekend. If I'm hungry, I eat terrible campus food and complain about it to my roommate. If I earn money, it goes into a black hole labeled "tuition."
5. School demands work
While I don't have to worry about grocery shopping or other chores, I do have to put my mind to work. I read, write, type, study and more all on minimal sleep. But after a numbing summer of minimal intellectual engagement, all that sounds pretty fantastic.
6. Awesome professors
I can't imagine attending a school where the profs aren't (as a general rule) kind, compassionate, intelligent and all around simply great be with. I seriously can't wait until my classes taught by my favorite profs finally start.
7. The feeling of progress
Every homework assignment and exam, every week and all those papers... Even when it's hard, those things all feel like I'm getting a lot closer to graduating and being the kind of person I want to be than the summer with odd memories, cruddy jobs and fun misadventures do. At heart, I'm an incorrigible academic and school is a great place to be.
