It’s time to dig your backpacks out of storage and order those overpriced textbooks that you will probably never use, because as of Sept. 2, school will officially be back in session here at good ol’ UWM. While it’s always hard to bid farewell to a summer that went by way too fast, well, we really don’t have a choice. Here are a few reasons why school starting up again isn’t a totally terrible thing.

 

  1. Fall Welcome Week always has a ton of fun activities. Especially if you’re looking to meet new people, get a jump on student involvement, or just to get free food. As always, there are some quirky events concocted by UWM, such as the Sex and Drugs Show on Monday, Aug. 31. The show converses about “a provocative, in-your-face look at the highs and lows of dating, sex, alcohol, drug use, and relationships on college campuses,” according to UWM’s Fall Welcome Week events page. Or, you know, there’s always the Condom Olympics on Tuesday, Sept. 1, which combines condom-related activities while educating you on sexual health. If you’re looking to get involved with student organizations, be sure to check out the Fraternity & Sorority Showcase on Wednesday, Sept. 2 or the Sports Clubs Fair on Thursday, Sept. 3.
  2. The Pantherfest performers don’t suck this year. The Marcus Amphitheater welcomes the up and coming duo Twenty One Pilots and rapper Hoodie Allen for this year’s Pantherfest. You’ve probably heard Twenty One Pilots hit “Tear In My Heart” on the radio, but the rest of their music doesn’t seem as poppy to me, which I think is a good thing. Their genre is kind of hard to categorize. I’d guesstimate them as indie hip-pop, even though I just made that up. As for Hoodie Allen, his underground raps will be sure to jive up the crowd and pretty much force you to dance and attempt to spit as sick as he does, whether you like it or not.
  3. Taco Bell is once again open. Yes, I’m going to go ahead and throw in this completely biased one, because Taco Bell is delicious and has been closed on campus all summer. Bring on the burritos.
  4. The end of summer means the beginning of fall. Which is without a doubt the best season. Where do I even start? The sweltering heat has been beat and sweatshirt season begins once again, giving all of us an excuse to scrub it up. Leaves will begin changing, rendering campus to be as beautiful as it will be all year. Ice lattes will be replaced with hot chocolates and all will be right with the world. Oh, and Halloween. Don’t even get me started on how glorious Halloween is.
  5. Two words: Packer season. It’s no secret that Wisconsinites go absolutely nuts over Packer season. Campus will be bleeding green and gold from September to January, giving students an excuse to drink too much beer on Monday nights and skip class Tuesday mornings. Even if you’re from out of state like myself, it’s hard not to succumb to the fun that is Packer season in Milwaukee. And let’s face it, the Minnesota Vikings suck anyways.
  6. Your summer job might have been really awful. Many of you probably worked outside in the sweltering heat or inside scrubbing dishes at a mediocre restaurant that paid you too little. A lot of us worked full time over the summer to save money or simply to write out that rent check every month. So the start of school might give you the chance to say goodbye to that god forsaken place.
  7. We again have access to all things campus. If you stayed in Milwaukee over the summer and didn’t take any classes, you were cut off from things that get taken advantage of during the school year. Since school is starting up again, we now get access to MCTS bus passes, free use of the Klotsche Center, and the advantage of B.O.S.S. extending their midnight summer hours back to 2 a.m.
  8. Classes starting = being able to learn more and more about your major. Which reminds us of our passion and why we are here in the first place.

 

So when you’re dreading that first day of class, just remember that we are all here for a reason and that this whole college thing is actually pretty awesome. Except for those disgusting icebreakers that happen on the first day. Those will always be a pointless chore.