After about five weeks of sitting on my backside, eating chocolate (New Year's resolutions are going SO well, obviously), this week saw me back at uni and the headache of the dreaded second semester.

For some reason, the first term seems to float along. A wee essay here, a wee test there, and before you know it, it's Christmas.

The festivities follow, days where you fully intend to get onto that assignment due in the day you go back, maybe revise a bit of that tricky new French tense. Then, before you know it, you're back on the train, pulling into the station for another twelve weeks of education. Should be as straightforward as semester one, right?

Wrong. Strangely, lecturers see the second semester as a time to fire tonnes of work at you, new ideas, new terms, new things to contend with while trying to write essays, revise for test after test then realise, "Oh crap, we have exams soon."

The first week back is full of images of what is to come. You can practically feel the stress coming along. And the first week back is notoriously disorganised - new classes and new rooms never go down well.

Add into the mix a sore throat, which in turn affects your belly (because that's the way of it with Crohn's), a body clock which is all over the place due to five weeks of sitting on your backside et voilá! It's the First Week Back Blues.

Whoever said student-ing is easy was wrong.

Posted: Friday 01 February 2008 18:52:23