Now that it’s getting down to the wire, we Stony Brook students have a lot of feelings about the academic year ending. Some may think it’s just another semester come and gone so what’s the big deal, while others may be anxiously watching the days fly by on their calendars. Or perhaps some students are feeling a mixture of both. Here’s to everyone experiencing mixed feelings about the end of the semester and doesn’t quite know how to handle themselves.
1. You feel so. Done. With. School. That’s it, you just can’t handle it anymore. You worked tirelessly away at your schoolwork for the entire semester, and now you’re just mentally fried. You admit it: you need a break. Specifically, a three-month-long break.
2. But when you start thinking about the summer, you suddenly realize those three months aren’t going to be all lollipops and rainbows. Maybe you finally realized this when someone casually asked, “So, what are your plans for the summer?” and caused you to remember that you have no definitive internship or job prospects lined up. And if you don’t find anything to do this summer, you’re going to end up on your couch for three months binge eating and binge watching shows on Netflix.
3. Then again, no matter what you end up doing, the summer should be at least kind of relaxing, right? If you’re not taking summer classes, you won’t have to worry about homework, research, exams or anything of the sort.
4. But … you also don’t want the semester right now to end. Despite the ever-present stress and responsibilities, you find yourself enjoying some aspects of school. Like operating on a set schedule with classes, club meetings and time to hang out with friends. Or feeling productive because you actually have things to do. Or even … dare I say it … learning things in your classes?
5. And then you start thinking about how not ready you are to move on and become a sophomore/junior/senior/grad student/real person, which makes you feel like panicking, which makes you wish really, really hard that time would freeze and this semester would never end.
6. So then you think to yourself, What ever happened to living in the moment? This is my life and I refuse to squander my precious remaining time in college! And you resolve from this point on, with two weeks left in the semester, to enjoy every moment as much as possible.
7. That is until you remember finals are coming up and you start hating school again.