We've all been there. You wake up in your bed after a hazy Friday night feeling groggy and bloated from the 1800 calories of late night food you (impressively?) scarfed down just hours ago. You're annoyed because Chad from Sigma Chi blew you off again last night.Your room looks like a grenade went off last night, your roommate is missing, and your water bottle is just far enough of arm's reach to force you to get out of bed. While you're chugging sweet H2O, you peer out the window and see dull winter sunshine and a complete lack of any usual morning activity. If you've been through this (which I know you have), then you know that this is a typical start to the dreaded Saturday Blues.

The Saturday Blues are a strange phenomenon I've observed in many college students. They arise when one has too much free time, a lack of motivation, and the interesting concoction of a career, personal, and existential crises. From an expert opinion (mine), during the week college students simply do not have time to freak out too much about their future, contemplate the universe and their place in it, or feel nostalgic about home. Their too busy fighting the daily battles of exams and essays all while trying to do the bare minimum to stay alive (ie. eat, breathe) and maybe drag a comb through their hair once every two or three days. However, when Saturday comes around, all of these feelings of uneasiness rise to the surface during the dangerous, numerous hours of unscheduled free time. Reports of stress, panic, and a palpable emptiness seem to be common side effects of the Blues.

If you or a loved one suffers from the Saturday Blues, don't fear. There are solutions to your woes. To start, one of the most effective things you can do is to schedule. It doesn't have to be anything special, and you don't need to spend the $8.50 left in your bank account on endless appointments or treatments. I mean you should literally schedule anything. Schedule a shower for yourself, schedule your meals, schedule your time watching YouTube. Scheduling a Saturday for yourself adds structure to your day and provides less time for sadly pondering about if you will ever find genuine love, the track of your useless degree, or who Brad from Beta took home instead of you. I promise scheduling helps so much, but obviously you must be disciplined and can not deviate, or the Blues will find you.

The second most important thing you can do is to go outside. I find that the outdoors always assist in clearing up the Blues that fog your mind. A bunch of research that I'm not going to find a citation for but I promise is true (that's how I write most of my lab reports) states that going outside is calming and reduces stress. So get out there, preferably with a friend. Finding positive friends who love to do things is also a sure fire way to beat the Blues.

Other important things: Have a good meal. Take a long hot shower. Allow yourself to relax. Enjoy the rays of the morning sun and the way they illuminate a lazy, sleepy world. Remember that you are wonderful and you are important. You are taking amazing leaps for your future just by being at college and earning your degree. The Saturday Blues are yet another obstacle to jump over, but if you proactively attempt to get rid of them, they can be a very small hurdle that you will overcome. And hey, if you've tried all my tips and everything fails, still don't fret...darty season begins shortly.