It seems like every year around this time I start having nightmares about school. This is especially weird now since I haven’t been a regular college student for two years. Yet it’s always the same kind of dream- I’m in a huge school building for the first time, and I have no idea what my schedule is or where I’m supposed to be. Someone tells me I’m supposed to be in some kind of science lab class and that I’m late. Once I’m in the class the teacher always asks for a homework assignment I didn’t complete, a giant science packet. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what this dream means. I was a terrible student, and even worse when it came to science and math classes. Somehow, I was so traumatized by them that I’ve developed an irrational fear that I’ll have to return to them every year just after Labor Day.

One thing I’m thankful for is that whereas I used to cheer myself up after these dreams by saying “Don’t worry, school hasn’t started yet. You’ll finish that giant science packet on time!” I now can cheer myself up by saying “Don’t worry, you’ll never have to work on a giant science packet again. Now get out of bed and go work here.”