Coming on like a hurricane, the fall semester is sucking everyone up and taking their energy with it. It will take a while to get back into the groove of things. Summer is loved because there are no assignments, it is easy staying up past midnight and worries about waking up before 10 a.m. are absent.
Summer is like a comfort zone to which some people are attached. It is easy to lie by the pool or spend all day at the beach. You’re allowed to come home dead tired and just fall asleep. It sounds like the perfect day and best summer until September comes along.
On the first day of school, I had to be in class at 9:30 a.m. Although it does not compare to a class as early as 7a.m., I had difficulty waking up. My mom first woke me up asking when I had class and soon after my alarm went off. I laid back in bed and ended up falling sleep.
I had become used to going to sleep at 3 a.m. and not waking up until 1 p.m. the next day. I soon realized I have some readjusting to do in order to wake up on time for these upcoming school days.
Not only is sleeping in, or the lack of it, a problem; I now have to worry about getting school work done. I cannot just come home from school and watch TV or hang out with friends; I have to actually do work! I will now be missing out on sleep and the leisure activities I love.
To top the cake, the days I work until 10 p.m. are going to be the roughest. Not only is there school then work right after; I have studying to do as well and I can only get that accomplished either before or after work. The new semester is forcing me to change from my “do what I want, when I want” attitude, to having an agenda.
Summer is just about gone as well as sleeping in, late night movies, and spending all day at the mall. I now say hello to early mornings, coffee, tests and homework. Aside from the classic school work, I also endure stress, procrastination and exhaustion.
When school rolls around, I expect to feel exasperated and nonstop tension. In addition, I know I will be missing out on a ton of exciting activities but I try to keep my head in the game and be optimistic. I mean school will be over in less than five months and it is back to late night TV with Conan O’Brien.
It might seem like a loathsome five months but before it is even noticed, there will be a pile of books waiting to be studied for finals. Once those mundane tests are complete, a satisfying smile will come across everyone’s face because a break has finally arrived.
I know I am not alone in my dilemmas because I was not up until 3 a.m. by myself. I had friends that were having just as much fun, if not more, along with me. It is a tough change that only becomes easier with time and eventually the clock will tick too fast.
This fall may be filled with stress, but it will definitely pay off in the end just the way summer had its rewards of meditation and relaxation.
It may take a few weeks or only a couple of days to get back into the groove of school, but it will happen before you know it. Then at that point there will only be half of the school semester left.