It's that time of year again. You stock up on your school supplies and check your book lists. All the freshmen on your newsfeed are over-the-moon excited about beginning a new adventure, but those of us who have been around the block a few times are not looking forward to going back to school. This is not our first rodeo. At all the rodeos we've been to, we fell off the bull- and it trampled us. We are so full of feelings. You know who else has a lot of feelings? The cast of Grey's Anatomy. No one has experienced as much drama as the Grey-Sloan team, and they never fail to express their frustrations in a way with which everyone identifies. Here are the phases of going back to college as told by Grey's Anatomy.
1. There's always that one person who starts talking about school way too soon.
I'm sorry, no. We just got to summer. We just got through finals. We don't need you reminding us that we have to go back to being tortured for a solid 16 weeks. No one asked you to speak.
2. You get to school expecting some freebies
Freebies are the only redeeming factor about this whole situation. The first week back usually entails some free snacks, free shirts, free cups... something. The times there are no free things are more than disappointing. They cause a deep anger to come up inside you.
3. At least one of your professors has apparently never heard of "syllabus week."
Rather than using the first day to hand you a syllabus and get out, this professor decides to read the syllabus in detail, tell you all about his or her life, how the class will go each and every day, and then begin lecturing. This is not good for anyone's health. No one wants to experience this.
4. There's always gonna be that one person you immediately hate.
If you've been in your program a while or you're in upper levels at a small school, you probably know most of the people in your classes. That means that even though it's very early in the semester, you already have a strong, negative, visceral reaction to one or more of the people you'll see every day for the next four months. You might want to consider yoga in order to avoid a cardiac event.
5. Before long, you meet up with your friends to compare schedules.
This just ends up being a game of ugly comparisons. Who has a worse schedule? Who has the hardest professors? Who has to work more? Who had the most terrible summer? No one knows why we do this. Scientists are still working on an answer.
6. After the first week is over, you realize it's about to get a lot harder.
Even if you only have professors who make you listen to full lectures on the first day, I can guarantee it'll only get worse from there. Every morning you'll drag yourself out of bed and try to think of reasons to actually go to class. The deep, soul-level kind of tired starts to set in. It finds you earlier and earlier the longer you've been in college.
7. By the time midterms roll around, you will be depleted of all resources.
Spiritually, emotionally, physically. College is sucking the life out of you. You're just trying to stay alive.
8. There will come a time when you just need some comfort.
You feel like giving in. You can't take it anymore. So you give yourself the night off from life, order a pizza, and let it go.
9. You'll have at least one friend who doesn't have a care in the world.
Maybe they don't care about grades. Maybe they're just genuinely stupid. Either way, there's always one person who seems so carefree, even when everyone is frantically calculating their grades and dealing with their crumbling lives.
10. No matter what happens, you keep going.
School sucks. But it's temporary. We hope. Keep on keeping on.
After all, this is just the start. It only gets crazier from here.
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