As the winter break comes to an end, college students are preparing for the upcoming spring semester. Honestly, the thought of it probably doesn’t sound too terrible to anyone right now. Moving back into your own place and catching up with all your friends who you haven’t seen in a month sounds fun to me. You’re probably pretty excited to have a little more freedom than you did at home for the past month, too. Sure, the first few days of it sounds fun - and it’s good to dwell on the fun and positive aspects of moving back. Syllabus week is a time for students to ease back into the harsh reality of having a jam-packed schedule with one too many obligations than they can handle. Here are a few thoughts we’re all going to have when the reality of syllabus week hits us.

1. “My friends are the only thing I missed about this place.”

You haven’t seen your best friends for a month, so going to the dining hall with them for the first time will probably seem like a lot more fun than it will seem in a few weeks from now, when you just can’t possibly take one more night of college food.

2. “More ice-breakers?”

It’s the first week of classes with students and professors that you’ve never met before. Get used to reciting your name, major and hometown over and over and over again… and don’t forget to have a “fun fact” or “best part about your break” prepared to share in some classes as well.

3.“How many more weeks until spring break?”

In every class, you’ll be handed a syllabus that has every single assignment in it due for the entire semester. Its easy to starting stressing out about the final project, due in 16 weeks, when you see the requirements for it or how much it counts towards your final grade. We like to be obligation free, and spring break is the next opportunity for us to relax.

4. “Syllabus week parties are the best parties.”

Cheers to the campus being back together for the first time in a month... Everyone seems to agree that going out to celebrate being back might be the only logical way to pretend that college semesters aren't just 16 weeks of hell.

5. “For a second, I almost forgot what it felt like to be sleep deprived."

If you were like me, and had very few actual obligations over the break, your current sleep schedule is probably suboptimal for what it has to be for the semester. You'll probably be done with classes some days before you were even out of bed over the Holidays. Having to set an alarm (or 8) every morning is going to be a rude awakening… literally.

6. “I'm going to dress nice this semester, no sweatpants.”

HA.You’ll probably spend more time getting ready and looking nice for the first week of classes than you do all semester. You can tell yourself you're going to keep it up, but after syllabus week, every extra second of sleep you can get will matter more than waking up early to get ready.

7. “I have to go through 16 more weeks of this?”

When you think of it like that, the semester seems like an eternity.

As I look back on the fall semester, I realize how fast it went… even if there were days I didn’t think I’d possibly make it through. In a few short months from now, we’ll be saying the same thing about the spring semester. Taking it day by day is key to surviving the next 16 weeks. Good luck!