The feeling is everywhere. The drag in your step, the pull of your eyelids coaxing you to just take a quick nap, or the utter defiance of not doing your homework.We all know it and hate it, and it’s what some like to call, “the back to school blues”.The new semester brings new opportunities, fun activities, and more work. It is also significantly longer than the first semester, and the thought of working nonstop until summer is almost too much to bear.

Some power through, and work their tails off, trying to forget that they have a whole five months more to bear until they are free again, while others slump on their desk with their head in their hands zoning out and trying to remember a time of freedom.

The first week is done and over with, and this week is almost halfway over; I don’t know about you, but I’m still dragging myself around from class to class. The mere thought of going another five months like this is too taxing for me to think about.

What can we do to fix this dilemma? Do we take the advice of the infamous Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, and choose one exciting thing to look forward to, other than summer, and try to focus on that one thing? How do we get over the Back to School Blues?

It’s going to be hard, but we can’t keep looking backward at our lost days of freedom, we have to face this head on. It may feel like we’re trapped in a steel box, with only a brief sense of solace on our beloved weekends, but I believe we can do it.

As my father always says, “carpe diem, seize the day, and take every minute with a grain of salt”. Don’t overthink it, don’t focus on the negative fact that you’ve only made it a fraction of the way until summer.

Maybe, dare I say, start a chain reaction. It’s cheesy, but it works; if it didn’t why would they keep saying (or singing) it to us until our heads spin? Simply start by doing something nice for someone this week, like holding open a door or just smiling. You couldn’t even imagine what a small and seemingly meaningless gesture will do for someone’s day.

And just think of all of the testing or vacation days. Before we know it, it will be Spring Break, and it is smooth sailing all the way until the end of May.

Never fear, summer will be here soon enough, and we will all be glad for it. Now it’s the daunting task of actually waiting for it to come.