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9 Thoughts Every College Kid Has Had Before 'Going Back'
Well, that was fast! Can't believe Summer is already over!
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New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.
1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.
Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!
With that being said it brings me to another thing I will actually (try) and do this semester.
2. I will look decent for class.
OK maybe not every single day, but at least twice a week, put effort into your appearance. I know that that pair of sweats and that baggy t-shirt stay calling your name; however, they need to understand that there are clothes in your closet that have not seen the light of day in months due to your inability to actually put on a decent looking outfit. Let your sweats know that you need to wear other clothes or before you know it your jeans will have somehow shrunk a size (yes it happens). It doesn't take too much effort to put on a nice outfit and who knows that adorable top in the back of your closet may catch the eye of a potential "bae."
3. I will go to the gym more.
After being home for a month or more and your family stuffing you with actual good food, a few pounds may have introduced themselves to you. When going back to school this is a time for you to cut them out of your life, you probably have not gotten that attached to them so now would be a good time to hike across campus to the gym and start getting that perfect body (spring break is coming up).
4. I will go to the library and study more.
See how I said "go to the library and study" and not "go to the library and sleep, watch Netflix, or do anything but study." Your grades are counting on you to lift them up when they are down and you can't do that when you try and cram for that big test the night before. This semester you are challenged to study not a few days before, but weeks before. This way you can actually learn and understand the material. It helps -- I promise.
5. I will meet new people.
Yes, your old friends are fun and you always have a good time with them, but it is never a bad thing to branch out and meet new people. Join a new club or talk to that random person who sits beside you in class, not only could you make a new friend you could have a new person to study with!
Now, go make some friends, get to class on time, look decent, and get your study on.
The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library
For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.
And so it begins.
1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock
Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.
2. Disappointed you let it get this bad
One to three hours pass and that motivation from earlier has dissipated. Why are you barely doing this assignment? Retreating into your blanket seems like a good plan, for about 30 minutes longer than it should have. Texting your friends to complain about your strategy not working for you may show weakness and result in judgment. Abort the friendship if that is the case. That kind of negativity is not needed in your fragile state. They should be fighting it just like you! As time continues, you sit there with a somber attitude, knowing this is not helping the situation, but only making it worse for yourself.
3. Distracted: When a 10-Minute Break Becomes an Hour
You do not care if you are making it worse on yourself! You might walk around to see what other unfortunate souls have found themselves in that dark, probably cold, outdated campusdungeonbuilding. You check your email. You look at Twitter/Pinterest. You might do anything but what you are supposed to. This is without a doubt though a critical part of the process however. How else can one get the creative juices flowing than without some mental breaks.
4. When the Yearning for Sleep Sneaks Up
Right before, or right after you buckle down and get started again, it is late and the desire for your bed and need for sleep hit you hard. You know you cannot let this feeling win, despite how tempting it might be. What would all these hours have been for if you simply pack up your backpack and walk to your dorm? A WASTE. You push through this feeling until you finally need some reinforcements.
5. In the words of Lorelai Gilmore "Coffee, Coffee, Coffee"
The head reinforcement. You turn to it in this lonely time of need, as much of the other library patrons have already found their ways home at this point. Liking the actual substance that is caffeine is not important - you simply have to lean on the method you most enjoy. Maybe it’s coffee, warm and homey. Or maybe you are a Monster/Redbull type, cold and rugged. Either way, you refuel before setting into the final stages of the assignment. Others would call this the home-stretch or rounding the bases, but, in reality, it is more of a speedy but painful crawl towards the finish line in a desperate attempt to not be dead-last.
Oh, so done.
The time has come where you can begin the trek back to your room and desperately attempt to not wake your roommate. Besides that, you sit back and realize you did a thing, an adult thing, and you got it all accomplished. You beat the beast, they said you couldn’t do it and you showed them!
You can do anything!
The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class
You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.
December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.
1. When it's December 1 and you have seven things due, three exams, and haven't slept in three days.
You tell yourself everything is going to be ok.
2. So you stress.
And stress, and stress, until you can't stress anymore.
3. And cry.
The tears just flood over you and you can't help but sob. College is great, isn't it??
4. Then call your mom to cry some more.
She can't even console you at this point.
5. After the pep talk, you feel determined to get everything done.
"I got this!" is your go-to mantra.
6. But, now you're tired.
You will do anything if it means you can sleep for 20 minutes.
7. And really hungry.
I mean really, really, hungry.
8. Suddenly, it's 2 a.m. and you have only written three sentences and your paper is due in the morning.
Welp, looks like you're pulling another all-nighter.
9. You've made it to Friday... somehow.
The weekend could NOT have come soon enough.
10. Then Sunday hits and you find yourself back at the Lib.
Club Lib... not as lit as the actual bar.
11. So you cry some more.
"I can't do this anymore" is what you're telling yourself at this point.
12. But, you fight through the tears to get everything done because you're determined.
You start watching motivational videos online to try and cure your blues.
13. In the end, you feel on top of the world because you made it through the last week of class alive.
You're not sure how you did it. But, you did so you count this week as a win.
14. But, now it's finals week so good luck.
Send help because the cycle is repeating itself.
The Great Christmas Movie Debate
"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.
One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."
Everyone has experienced the feeling of wanting one thing for Christmas more than anything else in the world. For the young Ralphie Parker, played by Peter Billingsley, this gift is the Red Ryder B.B. gun. No matter how much he is dissuaded by adults, with warnings like “You'll shoot your eye out,” Ralphie wants no business with any other gift. His eyes are fixated on the gun and anything less than that under the Christmas tree would be a disappointment. The way Ralphie feels about the gun is real and relatable. Watching this movie brings out the child in every adult who spent the Decembers of their childhood being extra nice to further entice Santa Claus to bring them the item at the top of their Christmas list. While "A Christmas Story" follows a nine-year-old and his Christmas dreams, everyone who watches struggles along with Ralphie in his quest to get a gun from Santa Claus.
If getting the top item on the Christmas list is the highlight of Christmas for children, getting clothes is the low point. No child wants to get clothes. Ralphie is not the exception. One of the first gifts he opens is a pink fluffy bunny suit from his aunt. The unhappiness is palpable. Under pressure from his mother, Ralphie puts on the bunny suit and smears a half-hearted smile across his face. After given permission to take it off, the nine-year-old sprints like no other up the stairs to put back on his pajamas and resume opening up other gifts. To children, ripping off the gift wrapping and opening the box to see clothes is the ultimate letdown. Kids, like Ralphie, want nothing other than
myriad different toys. "A Christmas Story" perfectly portrays this feeling. Kids watching pray that they do not find clothes under their trees, and their parents can sympathize as they were these kids years ago.
Finally, what makes "A Christmas Story" so great is that it shows that every Christmas cannot be perfect. While Ralphie did end up getting his Red Ryder B.B. gun, that might have been the only thing that went right for the family that day. Mr. Parker loved nothing more than a Christmas turkey. But when his prized possession was eaten by the neighbors’ dogs, all the light is taken from his eyes. He laments that, “The heavenly aroma still hung in the house. But it was gone! All gone! No turkey! No turkey sandwiches! No turkey salad! No turkey gravy! Turkey hash! Turkey a la king! Or gallons of turkey soup! Gone! All gone!” Instead of canceling Christmas, the whole family takes a trip to the local Chinese restaurant for a Christmas duck. This famous scene is what makes "A Christmas Story" so great. It does not try to sell you a perfect Christmas. It shows the reality that while everything may not be perfect, if you are together with your family on Christmas, that is all that matters. After all, family is what the holiday is here for.
15 Thoughts Going Through Your Head Before Finals
Who isn't stressing out over finals right now?
As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.
1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.
2. Wait, we only have a week of classes left before finals?
3. When are my finals even?
4. I hope the schedule for finals doesn’t interfere with my Netflix time.
Photo by Jovan Vasiljević on Unsplash
5. Okay, now I’m stressing about finals.
6. When did we learn all this material? I wish I had been paying more attention in class.
7. Oh no, not another group project instead of a final.
8. I’ll just take a “quick” break from studying.
9. Why is that girl watching Netflix in the library right now? Isn’t she worried about her finals?
10. Ugh, I wish I was carefree enough to be watching Netflix in the library right now instead of studying.
11. I wonder what my final class grade would be if I didn’t do well on this final.
12. Is anyone else as stressed out as I am right now?
13. I need another chocolate bar. I wonder if i have enough quarters for the vending machine.
14. I can’t wait for this semester and for finals just to be over already.
15. Ugh, I hope I studied and know everything that I need to.
So as we're all studying (panicking) for finals, I wish you all the best of luck with your upcoming exams! And remember in a few weeks, we'll be back at home without a worry in our mind. The end is in sight.
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