My first year of college was truly the best but most exhausting year of my life. In my first year at Carolina, I met more friends and made more memories than I could have ever imagined.
However, we as college students may like to idealize college a little bit while we are home for the summer. All of our minds are filled with memories of winning the national championship (OK, I had to get that one in there) and late night runs with friends to Sup Dogs.
The truth is that our minds like to omit the painful memories of finals week and early morning lectures. Despite these terrible truths, I grow more anxious every single day for the fall. So, here are the seven stages of summer as told by a Carolina student:
1. Finals are OVER and you can finally breathe!
I can honestly say there have only been two occasions where I did not like being a student at Carolina... both two occasions were finals week. The feeling of relief and freedom is the best feeling in the world. Summer hits like a big breath of fresh air and you are too excited to even think about the fact that you will be leaving your friends for the summer.v
2. You get home and spend 75% of your time catching up on Netflix and only the other 25% hanging out with friends.
I don't know about anyone else, but I never had much time to watch Netflix during the school year, so summer became my opportunity to catch up on all those shows that I got behind on. When thinking about summer, you assume that you will spend most of it with your friends, but realistically, Netflix becomes your best friend.
3. You realize how unproductive you are at home and guilt yourself into finding a job.
About a month into my summer of binge-watching Netflix, I started to feel bad about how unproductive I was, so I decided if I was going to be home for the summer, I might as well be somewhat productive and make some cash. So, everything is great until you see someone come into the store with a Carolina shirt and all you can think about is how much you miss college.
4. You find yourself talking about Carolina any chance you get.
So, you know that lady with the Carolina shirt? Yeah, I had a long conversation with her at the register about how much I love my school. Then, someone came in with a Duke shirt on and while that was not as pleasant of a conversation, you get the idea. The more I talk about Carolina, the more I miss it.
5. You take it one step further and write an article about it.
I mean, this is getting bad.
6. You realize you have to order books and pay tuition.
There is nothing quite like ordering books for classes to bring you back down to reality. Books mean classes, which means homework. Summer is actually starting to sound quite nice.
7. Finally, it is time to go back to Carolina and you are more excited than you have ever been to see your friends and make a whole new year of memories.
What can I say? The homework and finals may suck, but it is a small price to pay in the end. I cannot wait for a new year of Carolina basketball, late night food runs and seeing the people that are helping to make college the best four years ever.
