For me, the first day of school is exhilarating. In April, I painstakingly debate which classes to take. I make charts, I color code, I graph. I set my alarm for 6:50 before my 7 a.m. SIS appointment to quadruple check that I have entered the right classes. I assumed this process was the same for the majority of students. After letting a few of my friends see the intense planning, and being laughed at for giving course selection "the affection of a cat lady trying to lure a feral cat into her home" - this is a direct quote - I have learned it's not the typical approach. So I am not afraid to say that my reaction to the first day of school is probably a little off-kilter too. I shop for new pens, admonish myself for buying said pens when I already have dozens stockpiled, select new notebooks carefully based on paper quality and coolness of cover graphics, organize my backpack with machine-perfect precision and think twice before jostling my backpack on the first day.
All of this anxious, nerdy excitement bubbles up as I attend my classes. Hanging on to every word my professor utters regarding the syllabus, I cannot believe my luck. I am in school! I am learning! This knowledge is mine!
Then, Day Two commences. And the apathy, accented with sleepiness, begins to set in. I am still excited, I still take notes on the syllabus - oh yes, of course I do that. But something is needling me, the concern that maybe I am doing this wrong. No one else seems excited. Some people don't even have notebooks open.
Day Three and I am feeling somewhat sluggish. Staying up all night to read, very closely, every article I have been assigned has worn me a little thin. I will drink very strong coffee and perhaps my notes will not be the shining, neatly bulleted works of Day One. Instead of reading, I take a much-needed nap. I wake up three hours later, and debate beginning the homework. I will not actually begin for another two hours.
Day Four, Friday; I am yearning for the weekend. Overjoyed that I only have two 50-minute lulls before the weekend, I barely open my notebook. The weekend has finally arrived, and I realize that this school thing is not all that it's cracked up to be.
This, I think, is the normal student outlook. The first day of school high had worn off and I am feeling the burn of academic rigor. I look at my syllabi and realize there is more reading there than a very bored person trapped on an island could read in several weeks. I am no longer feeling the burning desire to do it.
The school doldrums have hit. It is probably not a good thing that I arrive at this point only a week into the school year, but I'm sure we all understand. Maybe it's good that I get knocked off my "high horse" so early, because if I attempted to do every reading with a pen in hand and a document for notes open I would probably really hurt myself when I passed out on said pen.
School is great, and of course we will need it for the professions we are seeking. But come on guys, there is a part of you that dreads waking up and taking more notes. I know there is a little nerd in all of us, who wants to color code their notes by topic and do their reading every night. Those of you who keep it up all year, I applaud you as soon as I finish taking this nap.
Simone's column runs biweekly Wednesdays. She can be reached at s.egwu@cavalierdaily.com.
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