This is Senior Year, told entirely throughout a series of GIFs.
SENIOR SUMMER
Working hard or hardly working… literally. You’re either slaving away at your job/internship or you’re frantically deciding about grad school. You’re wondering when it’s all going to end and counting down the time until graduation – which really doesn’t make sense because then it’s ALL work.
Or if you’re barely working, you're taking as many shore trips as feasibly possible, going to country music concerts and tailgates and drinking into the wee hours of the morning. And often.
Props if you’re doing both work and play. You, my friend, are the definition of balance.
GOING BACK TO SCHOOL
You’re hoping it’s going to be a good year. Most of your friends are now 21, so there’s no excuse to not go to the bar. You stock up on 'going out clothes' while also buying blazers, dress pants and a watch for that senior year job/internship. You have to look sharp. Dress to impress, and pray for a job!
You’re super excited to see your people because now you have a solidified group of true friends, and you’re pumped to leave home and get back to your house/apartment/dorm at school. This is the last bit of freedom for a while.
SEPTEMBER
THIS IS FANTASTIC! JUNIOR YEAR WAS SUCH A STRUGGLE, AND I AM SO PROUD OF MYSELF FOR BALANCING WORK, STUDIES, THE EXTRACURRICULARS I PARTICIPATE IN AND A SOMEWHAT HEALTHY SOCIAL LIFE. I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. SENIOR YEAR ROCKS!
Buuuttttt you also haven’t considered that school work hasn’t picked up yet, and syllabus week JUST passed. Cool your jets and brace yourself because the school work monster is about to be unleashed.
OCTOBER
You’re happy it’s cooling down. But not too cool! Don't want it snowing on your final undergraduate Halloween. You struggle to find the right Halloween costume because you've already done the cute costume, the funny one, the significantly provocative costume (to put it nicely) and the partner costumes. What's left?
The Sanderson sisters are always an option, definitely.
SENIOR THANKSGIVING
Wow. I missed these crazies that I call my family. I'm pretty darn happy to finally have a real meal — not the chicken and pasta I make every night or the same dining hall drab. It's also pretty cool that I can drink with my folks legally. Time to eat turkey and throw a couple back!
WINTER BREAK - OH &$@!
Too many family parties and people asking me what I'm going to do for a living? Like what? Why are you asking me that? I am a human. I have feelings. A simple how are you would suffice.
I'm just going to sit over here, eat all these holiday cookies like they're my feelings, and totally blow the diet I've been working on. But it's okay! You know why? Because who in their right mind asks a college student, "So have any jobs lined up?" "What do you wanna do?" or "Plan on moving in together?"
IT'S JANUARY
Your family's constant questioning you about your future plans has seriously gotten old, so you're just about ready to be back at school. HOWEVER, for some unknown reason, Spring semester is always significantly harder than the Fall. Now, add in an internshipand a job to compensate for the unpaid internship.
It's also way too cold. Who the heck decided Winter was a thing!? You wait for warmer weather with senior year brewskis, the comfort of your bedroom when you skip class, and every bit of caffeine you can pounce on. If you're not drinking coffee, are you actually a college student? Seriously people, I think there's a correlation between smarts and the amount of caffeine a person consumes daily.
VALENTINE'S DAY
Of course, I had to make a separate slot for this holiday (that was solely created to fund florists and jewelry stores).
Who doesn't love Valentine's Day — the holiday about unrequited love. Seriously! It's the one holiday where one gender is treated like gold and the other gender is forking over theirs to do so. Most times, the gifts don't do it for them anyways. I'm all about love and gift giving, but for Pete's Sake, do it just because. Not because a made up holiday demanded you to. It's like you're allowed to treat each other terribly every other day, but on Valentine's Day, you're a functioning, healthy couple who spends too much on food and material goods; but it's OK. You love each other. OK. Enough cynicism.
If you're single and female on Valentine's Day, you'll have your version of a ladies night — probably consisting of food, pink wine and painting.
If you're single and male on Valentine's Day, you'll look like this:
Or you could just do this:
Who doesn't love pizza?
FAST FORWARD TO APRIL
DUN DUN DUN DUN. The dreaded G-word is right around the corner. People hesitate about saying it in front of you in fear of this reaction:
But really, you're ready! Even the people who say they aren't are actually over the whole school thing. We're over homework, and deadlines, and being stretched thin. The whole being broke thing is also a constant bummer.
The reality is: nobody wants to change.
Nobody wants the "real world." Nobody wants to be expected to wake up at 7 a.m. for a routine job every day. It's frightening. It's scary as heck knowing you won't see the people who made the past four years worth being a part of. It's scary to know you're most likely going to be back home with your family, the people you just began to appreciate. You're afraid you won't find a job, and if you have a job, you're afraid it won't be all that you thought it would. You're afraid of letting your loved ones down. Mostly, you're afraid you'll let yourself down. But you won't. And those people you saw every day can still be a part of your life. You may even have some money to do more enjoyable things with them! Like all the things you already did, just more expensive, in the name of class.
Transitions are always the hardest part about anything new. But with time, you'll adjust, and you'll have new problems to look forward to facing, and new people (and some old, too) to face them with.
