The semester is almost over and you can smell freedom in the air. As the weeks of school wind down, all college students begin to experience very similar feelings. You may think that you are alone on the roller coaster of emotions that the last few weeks of school are, but almost everyone shares these thoughts and experiences.
1. Nobody is judging you for crying.
It's midnight and the girl next to you in the library just started sobbing? We've all been there and done that. Nobody cares that you've finally snapped at the biology teacher who thinks that you're all established research scientists. Let it out, those teachers really do suck. Everyone has been in an "ugly cry in a very public campus spot" situation at some point in their college career. If you haven't yet, your time is coming.
2. Any excuse to go out with friends is a good excuse.
Your roommate's boyfriend's team won their intramural game? What time are we leaving for the bar? We have to celebrate that! As the semester comes to a close, the smallest of victories need to be celebrated just to get through the coming weeks. There's never a bad reason to go out with friends, only the decision to not go out. After all, these are the times that you will never get back.
3. Are these bags under my eyes permanent?
Looking like a college kid near finals would scare anyone who is not experiencing the same thing. Seeing a fellow student who looks homeless and coming off of a three-day alcohol bender is completely normal to you at this time of the semester. Therefore, the zombie who you call a roommate is actually alive. Is hibernation a solution for bags under the eyes?
4. "Oh well, there are only two weeks left," is an acceptable excuse for anything.
If this sentence hasn't come out of your mouth, you aren't doing the end of the semester right. Do you have a messy room, a crashed computer, or are you out of shampoo or laundry detergent? No worries, with only a few weeks left, how much laundry can you actually get done anyway? Moms love when you bring home laundry, right? With just two weeks left, there's not much that you need to worry about outside of finals.
5. The library is your new home.
If you've seen the librarian more than you've seen your roommate, that's totally normal and the librarian probably enjoys the company. This goes right along with the no-sleep problem. However, you'll eventually find those half-couch/half-desk things in the library surprisingly comfortable and, yes, the librarian will get used to your snoring.
6. Is your bank account or motivation level lower?
This is probably the all-time, most commonly asked end of the semester question. With motivation levels at an all-time low, there's a very good chance that it might be lower than your bank account. The whopping $0.38 that you still have to your name seems like a fortune in comparison to your ability to roll out of bed every morning for the next few weeks.
So, don't ever feel alone while wallowing in your "I will never see my family again, I just can't with this semester" self-pity. I promise you that we've all been there at some point.
