Anyone who has ever been a student in any kind of school system knows the rush of that glorious first day. The supplies aisles of the stores are left with only the least desirable products. Outfits are picked out and re-picked out until nearly every option in the closet has been closely scrutinized, always in an effort to create the most remarkable impression on the fellow inhabitants of the schoolyard.
The second week of school is an entirely different story. As someone who has just completed the torturous second week of school, I feel entitled to comment in this article on just a few of the things that are fundamentally different about these two weeks.
1. Outfit choice.
As previously mentioned, the first day of school usually fosters impeccable style and tremendous effort when it comes to getting ready in the morning. Oftentimes, new clothes are bought specifically for the start of the new school year.
By the second week of school (sometimes even by the tail end of the first week, for those of us who are truly unmotivated), all hope of showing up in the trendiest outfits has been abandoned, and a more comfortable attire has largely been adopted.
2. Homework efficiency.
Generally, during the first week of school, homework seems pretty doable. In fact, some students might even be a little bit excited about going home and getting some work done (though they would never admit it), just so they can feel productive.
The second week is when the procrastination starts to set in. No matter how many organization boards you've pinned on Pinterest or pleas you've made to yourself to finally be better this year, the urge to do work has begun to fade away. It's hard to want to complete that worksheet when you realize you're going to be doing it every day for the next ten months (roughly).
3. Getting enough sleep/Waking up in the morning.
As homework and extracurricular activities are usually lighter during the first week of school, it's easy to hit the hay at a reasonable hour, thus resulting in a relatively painless wake-up process. Heck, you might even have time to doll yourself up for school every day of the first week. It's a glorious feeling, feeling more than fifty percent alive at six in the morning.
The new school year has lost its novelty by the second week, and you start to realize that getting up so early is really not fun, nor exciting has you might have previously thought it to be. You're probably already bashing the snooze button every day.
I wish the best of luck to all those poor souls who've just suffered through the second week and are preparing for a third.
