I love school. Most elementary k-12 students would groan at me for saying so, but I do. It wasn't always the teachers who made it worth going, and I rarely had a large group of friends to help me "get through it", but I've always loved school. I love it because it means learning, structure, and challenges to help me get better.

Lately, I have been more frustrated than anything and, for the first time, I feel I'm experiencing "back to school blues." Instead of being energized and excited, I feel hesitant and even a bit doubtful. I didn't even get the same amount of joy from getting great deals on my textbooks as I usually do.

Some of it is probably because I took three classes over the summer and I'm a little burnt out.

I believe that more of it, however, comes from this being my final year of school.

I'm sure there is some part of my subconscious that is stressing out about things changing in May. I will no longer have the familiar structure of school to guide my learning process, but will be thrown into the "real world" in search of a job as part of the newly-graduated workforce.

My husband and I will most likely be moving, which means leaving my hometown really for the first time ever. Sure, I'll still have "assignments" and "homework" through my work, but the stakes will be higher, the learning curve steeper, and the consequences more severe. I wonder if I will be able to keep up both mentally and physically in the fast-paced workplace that I am hopefully entering into.

Even with all of these worries and more flying through my headspace, I know I need to remember to enjoy this year and make it count because I only get one shot at it. Senior years are supposed to be awesome, so I need to get out of my own way and beat these back to school blues.