Quicksand

Right now I'm at that point of the semester where things start to wind down. Not my classes or the work incorporated therein, but rather my motivation. Classwork actually increases and gets more intense. This is where my life goes crazy. Here's a quick semester life-cycle:

Stage 1 - The "Let's Rock This Mutha" Stage: A fresh new start to school. Things are good, there's nothing that I'm behind in, and everything is awesome. The homework is not too heavy, and I keep up on it really well. This semester will be different. This will be the semester that "I stay on top of things." This is the beginning of a new, non-procrastinating me.

Stage 2 - The "I'm Doing OK, I Don't Need to Study This Saturday" Stage: I'm still on top of things, but things are getting a bit too busy for me. Time to take a breather. Get up at noon, go to a football game, go to a dollar movie and chill. You've earned it, right? You have been doing your homework, right? All work and no play makes Jack...right?

Stage 3 - The "Oh Crap, I've Just Wasted the Last Three Saturdays and Now I Have Midterms" Stage: The beginning of the downward spiral. The readings and assignments for classes have slipped a bit, and now I have to cram information for Midterm for Class #1. Two days later is Midterm for Class #2. This creates a problem. I'm cramming for midterms, so therefore I can't get back on track for my daily readings. By the way, there are a ton of other things going on: Arrested Development parties, sleep, thank you cards, sleep, etc. Each day is an inch deeper slowly slipping into the abyss that is procrastination.

Stage 4 - The "I'm So Out of Studying that I Can't Get Back Into It" Stage: The decision to change things and "Get back on track." unfortunately, things have gotten out of hand. The papers and midterms keep flying and yet I'm trying to make up for all the readings that I've slacked off on. Probably about three Saturdays would be sufficient to make up the work I'm missing. Hope starts to be lost and despair starts knocking on the door. This is where I'm at right now.

Stage 5 - The "If I Survive Finals Then I Guess Life Might Go On" Stage: Finals arrive, and so the nights without sleep begin. The time of desperation. The time of bargaining. The time when I keep trying to make up the time, but the quicksand pulls faster and faster. It is the time in which "I just need some more time." At this point, life beyond finals is questionable. At this point, we promise ourselves that next semester (if we make it to that) will not be the same. "It will be different." We'll get better organized, we'll make sure to "Stay on top of things." We know that we'll change, that we will "Rock this mutha." And the cycle continues.

Seriously, though, next semester will be TOTALLY different. I promise.