“I can’t be the only one,” I told myself as I cried about the start of the spring 2016 semester just around the corner. Even with twice as much time off than I’ve ever had, winter break still went by far too quickly. As we gathered around a table at P.F. Chang’s, my high school friends all seemed to share the same joy about going back to school and the unspoken ease of "syllabus week." No matter where they were going — NAU, UA, a small liberal arts school in Texas, or even Mesa Community College — each of them oozed with excitement at the thought of their triumphant returns.
Although I feigned a smile, inside I knew I was dreading walking through the doors of my dorm and heading down the hall to the room I didn’t get to call my own. I wasn’t upset because I hate ASU or because I would be far from home (I only live 20 minutes away), but because I knew I was not prepared for the week ahead … or the week after that … or the week after that.
Like many of my fellow freshmen, my excitement for the fall semester was perpetuated by my recent high school graduation and my growing curiosity for what college had in store. Summer dragged on as I filled cart after cart with dorm supplies and snack foods. I was prepared for move-in day and for every day of the first semester after that. However, winter break did not provide me with such luxuries. I blinked and it was over. I had no books, no clean clothes and no motivation.
Syllabus week kicks off the start of the new year and for many people that means shortened classes, no homework and another reason to go party. For me, syllabus week meant difficult classes, stacks of homework assignments and an unjustifiable amount of anxiety. If this is supposed to be the easiest part of the semester, the next few months aren’t looking too hot for me.
Maybe it is my fault for not being as prepared as I could have or should have been. Maybe if I had been ready for classes to start then the past two weeks would have been easy. I could have gone out and perhaps even felt more confident about the weeks to come. On the flip side, maybe syllabus week and the few weeks that follow have too much hype. The pressure to start the year off right has morphed into starting the year off having fun, which I believe to be two different things.
It sucks to feel as if you are the only person who doesn't fit into pop-culture's idea of the start of the semester, but "different" does't always mean "worse." For the first few weeks, everyone's Snapchat stories seem to be filled with red solo cups and laser lights, versus textbooks and highlighted notes. Of course, the laser lights are far more exciting, but if your days don't involve anything except the florescent lights of a classroom, that is OK, too.
Syllabus week is still the first week of school and should be treated as such. As time goes by, you get more into the swing of the semester and your day-to-day schedule becomes the norm. It doesn't require excitement or dancing. It shouldn't make you insecure or add to the already long list of reasons you didn't want to return to school. Once you take away the facade of the first few weeks, or even the first month, you can begin to accept the normal, sometimes boring reality of being a college student.
Reach the columnist at kamaher1@asu.edu or follow @KatieMaher97 on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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