True Life: I Survived The First Week Of Classes

It was painful, but I did it. I survived the first week of classes!

The first few days back from Summer break are always the hardest to get through. After an amazing, relaxing Summer spent sunbathing and swimming, sitting in class is the last thing I look forward to. It is the inevitable end to every Summer however and I have found that there are a number of emotional stages that every recently back to school student must go through:

1. Denial – “School is not actually starting that soon. I still have time. It’s still Summer, for goodness sake its 95 degrees out!”

2. Crisis – (partly a result of the denial) “I’m not ready! I haven’t even thought about my classes yet and they start tomorrow morning!”

3. Depression – “I am actually up at 7:30am getting ready for class…”

4. Acceptance – “Well I am here I might as well pay attention. This may be boring but I need good grades”

5. Excitement – “OK wow, turns out that this is actually interesting material. I am excited for this class!”

Now, if you’re lucky, like me, you are actually taking classes that really interest you and apply to your future. I am taking 5 Education classes and 1 English class. I have found that the content we are learning in my Education classes is actually incredibly interesting and very applicable.

This Fall I have a new tutoring job that I look forward to starting with a company called Frog Tutoring. Also starting soon is volunteer opportunities such as Loyola’s chapter of UNICEF and Loyola 4 Chicago.

After I got through the initial stages of denial and depression (which didn’t take long) I see that coming back to school is actually something to look forward to and to be excited about.