The moment we complete our last final exam in the Fall is when the weight of college and its responsibilities finally lift. No more projects or 2,000-word essays. No more daily or weekly assignments. No more rushing from one class to the other or catching up on reading assignments. We can finally enjoy the Winter Break we have been striving for the whole semester. But, like all great things, everything must eventually end.

At first, we don’t see the end of our month of bliss and continue on the days and weeks of Netflix and playing with our new toys from Christmas. As much as we’d like to believe that Spring semester will never come, there are always clues we refuse to acknowledge until we have realized and have already adapted to returning to campus life.

Here are 10 clues we DSU students have seen yet don’t think too much about:

1. The dreaded move back to college town. Okay, imagine you are just relaxing on your couch or in bed watching Netflix, and all of sudden your parents are insisting you begin to pack. Whether you live in an apartment or in the dorms on Delta State’s campus, the move back is always an annoying chore. But, you do it because why not? The move-in day is a long way away. Just go back to watching “The Crown”, “Arrow”, or “Grey’s Anatomy” because you are not going to move-in for a while yet. Like five days tops. However, those “five days” quickly go by until you find yourself traveling back to school, wondering why on earth you’re heading to Cleveland when Winter Break should still going on.
2. Setting alarms to wake up for class. You have moved back in your apartment or dorm, if you’re like me, and have completely settled back down into college town. For me, I went about my day just fixing the rest of my dorm room up and ate a late lunch with my Mom. After taking a shower, I head to my phone—on complete autopilot mode—and set alarms to wake me up. And I do mean Who doesn’t set like five alarms to tell themselves they need to get up because the day is waiting and you’ve got things to do and places to be? The first two are never realistic times for me to get up, but the last three are when I start getting up. Even then, I don’t realize that I’m having to set alarms because first day of classes start the next day.
3. Groaning when said alarms go off like the constant firetruck and police sirens around Cleveland. I don’t know about anyone else, but having to wake up early after spending an entire month sleeping for as long as I wanted is kind of hard. No, not even hard. It is downright difficult and I have to drag my sorry butt out of bed to the bathroom. Granted, I scare myself half to death when I hear my alarm blaring as loud as it can go at 7 a.m. Has anyone else thought about chunking their phone or alarm clock out the window or just breaking it?
4. Happy and chirpy teachers greeting you with excited smiles about the new semester. Everyone on Delta State’s campus has experienced a professor who is just ecstatic that a new semester has begun. This should be a big and ginormous clue that Winter Break is over, but we ignore the fact our professors are explaining their syllabi and every project or essay we’ll do. We just stare blankly ahead, probably half-awake considering most of us aren’t used to being up so early, and thinking when this is over to finally go back to sleep. Maybe this entire event is just some elaborate dream your subconscious has created just to torture you. Has to be, right? Winter Break isn’t over yet.
5. The droning on of syllabi. Speaking of syllabi—ever noticed how they’re so detailed? The dates and outcomes of what the class is to impart on the student? Well, hate to break it to you, but the subconscious is capable of a lot of things, but I don’t believe it can conjure up projects for classes you haven’t even had yet. Especially classes you remember signing up for last semester.
6. The return of notetaking. Then, of course, there’s notetaking. After the first day of classes, your professors begin the first part of their course material. You follow along because all of this just doesn’t seem real. How can you be in class right now when you could be watching Netflix? Or hanging out with friends back home? Listening to your professor lecture and taking out pen and paper (or laptop) to take notes is just an instinctual reaction. I’m only taking notes because I’ve got nothing better to do for the next hour or so. Not only that, I’m still on autopilot mode because mornings are the devil and alarms are little demons who refuse to let me sleep in.
7. Awful handwriting activated. If you take notes via pen and paper, then you completely understand this point. By now, I’m awake enough to realize I’m really in a classroom with other students and taking notes for a future test or pop quiz. I’m also very aware that my handwriting is absolutely atrocious and I can barely read it. Anyone else have this problem? You return back from a month off, or several months, and your handwriting is suddenly the worst it has every been? Yeah, that’s me.
8. Remembering your 900# and Canvas password. The moment your professor encourages you to go onto Canvas is the time when you have an epiphany. You’re really back in College Land and there is no going back until the weekend or scheduled holiday breaks. But there’s another daunting problem: What’s your 900# and the password to Canvas? If you’ve changed your password like I did, then you know the struggle of not remembering it after a month away. Also, your 900# is easy to access if you ask your advisor, but trying to memorize it all over again is so difficult.
9. Can’t binge watch shows on Netflix anymore. That moment when you realize your time to watch as many episodes of your favorite shows has come to an end. With the beginning of a new semester (and let’s face it, it’s pretty obvious now that the Spring semester has come and Winter Break is over), there will be little time to spend hours watching Netflix. The fact you have to work, complete assignments on Canvas, study, read, and etc. is upsetting. I have to wait to complete another episode of “Arrow” and “The Crown” due to assignments from class. I’m quite sad about that fact as I’m sure everyone else is.
10. Counting down the days to the weekend. And finally, now that you’ve accepted the new semester in its full glory after a couple of days spent in class, it’s time to start the countdown. To the weekend, that is. Or glorified holidays where we miss class. The weekends and Fridays, of course, are the best things ever to exist for us college students. Especially, the holidays we get out on at Delta State. On the weekends, we can get a small semblance of Winter Break and relax, but there’s always homework and assignments waiting to be completed. So, while you count down for the next weekend and holiday, keep in mind of the assignments you must completely while away.

Well, there you have it. Here are the clues that prove Winter Break has officially ended and another semester of classes has begun. While it is sad we have to endure another few months of school before we reach our end goal, there is still time for fun and relaxation. We may not be able to watch all the Netflix we want or sleep as long as we would like, but there are still times where we have a surplus amount of free time on our hands.

Don’t forget to enjoy a good laugh and smile. Spring semester is here, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun and hangout with your friends here at Delta State!