Back to school, back to school, to prove to mom and dad that… you can make it through another year.
Making the trek back to college is probably the most exciting – and scary – journey of your life, but getting back into the swing of things is no small feat.
You’ll have an endless array of papers, essays and analyses due, you’ll be perpetually exhausted and you’ll know all too well what happens after 3 am.
As much as we love it, college is one big struggle — and only the strong and savvy survive. (Pro tip: Indulging in a Vita Coco Café Latte made with coconut water — and has 120mg of caffeine! — won’t just help you stress a little less this semester, it’ll also keep you alert and well-caffeinated.)
But when you’re not overwhelmed with classes, due dates and outstanding assignments, there’s just so much to love about living in the college world.
Might as well soak it up now because you’re going to miss it like hell when it’s over.
1. Having a full course list of classes you’re actually excited about.
Why you love it: You’re done with all your general education requirements (no more math – forever!) and you’re diving head-first into your major. Taking classes that you’re actuallyinterested in is going to change everything, right?
Why you hate it: Wrong. Why did you ever think that taking classes would be fun? Did you forget how slow and torturous it is to be assigned homework EVERY day until the end of time?
2. Moving back into your dorm room with your best friend.
Why you love it: Goodbye, parents! No one to tell you when to clean your room or judge you for stumbling in at 3 am after a night downtown with your friends. And how could we forget all those glorious outfit-sharing options?
Why you hate it: Sharing one room – one room – with someone is tough as hell. Forget ever seeing the floor or knowing what it’s like to get dressed in peace.
3. Your one – and only – class on Fridays takes place at 9 am.
Why you love it: You scheduled this class purposely so you’d have all the free time in the world to hit the gym, shower, eat lunch and take a four-hour nap before you and your friends mark the start of another crazy weekend. Look at you, you savvy planner, you.
Why you hate it: Your one – and only – class on Fridays takes place at 9… in the morning.
4. Sunday morning brunch at your favorite spot.
Why you love it: All your friends, together, rehashing what happened last night and round-tabling those hilariously embarrassing photos you’ll never, ever live down.
Why you hate it: The food will never taste as good as mom’s does – and you’re going to spend the rest of your Sunday Funday paying for that second helping of Eggs “Benedict.”
5. Unlimited free time.
Why you love it: Because classes only make about a third of your day, you’ve got plenty of time to do all of the things you want to do, like nap, catch up on every season of “Game of Thrones” and get to know that cutie down the hall.
Why you hate it: The only “free time” you’ve ever had is the five minutes you spend walking from class to the bathroom.
You forgot what it feels like to shower without having to memorize lines from Dostoyevsky, and you can’t even remember the last time you fell asleep without your copy of “A Stunning Account of American History Throughout The West” as your pillow.
6. Making new friends! Dating new people!
Why you love it: A new year at school marks the beginning of so many new opportunities: the chance to meet new people, get to know people on your floor and in your classes, curate a whole new group of friends to go out with on Friday nights and (most importantly), a whole new pool of potential partners to pick from.
Why you hate it: The girl down the hall almost got you two arrested – twice in one night – and keeps insisting that you go for a three-peat sometime soon. And that charming guy from your Parallels in European and African Culture lecture? After three dates, you found out he has a girlfriend.
7. Ridiculous weekend adventures with your best friends without a care in the world.
Why you love it: The world is, literally, your oyster. You guys can go anywhere – and everywhere – you want, and slowly, but surely, you and your friends are crossing states and cities off your collective bucket list. Having no responsibilities, and no one to answer to, is literally the best thing ever.
Why you hate it: You’ve got $32.71 in your bank account. Um. Uh. Oops.
8. All the bars you love – right in one place.
Why you love it: You don’t have to go far for your favorite drinks, and if one spot is a dud, then you’re honestly just five steps away from having the night of your life at some other bar.
Why you hate it: Even though you go to school with 15,000 other people, you always see the same people every weekend. Where are the fresh faces at?!
9. Tailgating at the football games
Why you love it: Yay, sports! Chanting! Waking up at 5 am to huddle around a cheap grill with all your sorority sisters in -3 degree weather.
Why you hate it: It’s not even 11 am, and you’ve already thrown in the towel for the day. Forget making it to the game – you just need to make it back to your dorm room.
10. Huge lectures and the chance to blend in.
Why you love it: You’re from a small town, so the chance to be just a number – instead of a name – is the most amazing feeling in the world. You’re finally a small fish in a big pond. Finally!
Why you hate it: OK, first of all, you can’t even hear the professor (let alone see him). And you’re forever late, so the only seat you score is the one in the last row – which means you never have any clue what’s going on.
11. There’s ALWAYS someone to hang out with.
Why you love it: When your suitemates are stuck in class on Tuesday night from 6-9, and you desperately want someone to hang out with while you “study” for your calculus exam, there’s always a pool of 15 friends you can pull from.
Why you hate it: You treasure alone time like it’s the last thing on earth, and you seriously never get a chance. Even the bathroom is flooded with girls at all hours of the day.
12. Forever is at your feet – and everything you want is within reach.
Why you love it: You can do (and be) anything and anyone you want and every day is a chance for you to take another step toward the person you want to be.
Why you hate it: Knowing who you want to be and what you want to be is terrifying. Can’t we just go back to freshman year already?
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