It seems that during any given night in the months from March to April I find myself staring blankly at my computer screen, paralyzed by my laziness. I know that I have essays to write, articles to read, exams to study and that the amount of effort I put into them will affect my grad school applications, job placement, retirement plan, etc. And yet, I can’t help but feel like it would be a much better use of my time to instead watch all of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt for the seventh time. Or spend hours googling “gifs of Taylor Swift dancing.” Or count my split ends.
Mid-semester slumps—the period about seven weeks into the semester where the novelty of classes has worn off and the panic of finals hasn’t set in and you find yourself unmotivated to complete anything—are nothing new. They happen in college, they happened in high school, they might have even happened in elementary school (they probably didn’t happen in elementary school). They happen every fall and every spring, but the slump in the spring semester, the utter lack of motivation that happens as the weather gets warmer and the days are gets longer, is undeniably worse.
Spring break is right in the middle of the semester
The fall semester can feel monotonous, with 13 straight weeks of school with no break, but through that students get used to a routine. Spring break yanks you right out of the routine in the middle of the semester, gives you a week to tan or travel or finally sleep and then throws you right back for another eight weeks of studying. Did you have a life-changing experience backpacking through the Grand Canyon over break? Great! Now, try to forget those memories and focus on cranking out that literary analysis that’s due on the second day back.
You’re stressed about the summer
In the fall, you have winter break to look forward to as a time to relax and de-stress. Winter break isn’t a fun time for everyone—you might work all break, you might be drowning in family time, you might lie in your bed and eat Easy Mac for a month straight—but there’s none of the crippling anxiety that comes with finding something to do over the summer. For some people, summer is the time when you have to get a job that makes bank in order to pay for pretty much everything at school. For others, it’s the time to find an internship to build up their resumes and gain that allusive “experience” that advisors keep talking about. And it doesn’t help that “What are your plans for this summer?” starts becoming everyone’s go-to small talk subject, along with “What’s your major?” and “Wow the weather is really warming up!” Summer can end up seeming less of a break from stress and more of a reason to be stressed—and that can make the piles of work you have right now a lot harder to do.
The weather is getting better
The sun is shining. The sky is blue. The birds are doing cartwheels in the sky. Bros are throwing frisbees on the Pentacrest. And you are—you are stuck in the fourth floor of the library, studying for your econ test. Fall semester, it seems like the weather is trying to sympathize with you; while your homework piles up, the weather gets steadily worse. Spring semester, the weather is mocking you. As your workload increases, so does the temperature until you have to pretty much staple yourself to your desk to stop from darting outside and frolicking in the sun.
You’re burnt out after almost six months of school
Let’s be honest: college is fun, but it’s exhausting. After six months of cramming for tests, pulling all-nighters, and listening to your neighbor’s alarm clock go off at seven a.m. every morning, you’re ready for a break. But that break just doesn’t come; instead, another wave of midterms, papers and group projects does. And on those rare nights when you finally, finally, get all your work done and get to go to sleep by midnight, you just end up jolting awake at three in the morning, panicking about whether that 40 page article was due tomorrow or the day after.
But despite all of these rather desolate points, remember that freedom is coming. The end of the semester is just around the corner. So sit down, close your blinds, and finish up that project you’ve put off for three weeks.