Here we go again — back in class with new books, new faces and a bag full of colourful, fresh school supplies. I actually love this time, even though there is always some anxiety that comes with everything new. But the look of a crisp new notebook with a stiff cover, the smell of fresh paper, a new bag and new stationery items — I just love it all. No wonder there is joy in writing your name on the first page of a notebook while trying a bit too hard to make it look neat and artistic. They all give me a certain feeling, one that only comes at this time of the year. Sadly, within a week, it’s gone, and everything becomes normal — and a bit on the exhausting side.
New classes, missing besties
With the new academic year, a lot is happening, on a personal level as well as at school. The whole mood shifts as soon as you step into your new classroom, surrounded by an unfamiliar setting, while you look for the seat that matches your mood before someone else takes it.
Sometimes this period already feels like a test, like when you find out that during the annual shuffling, you and your bestie have been put in different sections. That’s a hard blow to carry for the rest of the academic year. Or even worse — if you or your bestie has left the school or college altogether, for whatever reason.
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That changes the whole feeling of the new year. You look around at your classmates but don’t find your bestie, and your heart sinks. It’s that heavy feeling in your chest when you realise things are actually different now, and you just have to deal with it. You end up sitting with other classmates, nodding along to conversations you don’t really know much about, while wishing your main person was sitting right next to you like always. You put on a brave face, but deep down, it just doesn’t make sense to have to start over and rebuild your safe spot from scratch.
Survive it without losing your mind
If you’re in this situation, I know it feels pretty bad right now, but remember, schools shuffle sections for a reason — usually to push us out of our comfort zones or break up noisy groups — even if it feels like total punishment.
You don’t need to make these new classmates your soulmates by tomorrow, either. Be comfortable with other classmates too! It doesn’t mean you’re replacing your main person; it just means making a few new friends along the way instead of relying on only one or two people.
Every year is “the important one”
Then comes the syllabus. Studies pick up pace and soon everything shifts into fast-forward mode. You’re pulled right back in, just like every year. The same talks, the same tension and the same assignment deadlines begin. And with them comes the familiar line: “This year is more important.” Your teachers say it, your parents probably do too.
The funny thing is, you’re pretty sure they said the exact same thing last year. And the year before that. At some point, every year becomes the year that counts, which either means all of them do, or none of the warnings mean what they used to.
In my opinion, it’s the standard adult script to stop youngsters from falling asleep in the middle of their studies. They want us to understand the importance of education and not take it lightly.
It’s only the start. Chill for now! You’ve survived every “most important year” so far, and you’ll get through this one too!
The promises we make to ourselves
During the summer, I know many of you promised yourselves that this academic year would be different. You’d start studying earlier, stop wasting time, keep your notes organised, stay focused, become more social and fix whatever else you thought was missing last year. It felt good to make those promises. It always does, on day one.
But a promise made to yourself is a strange thing, because there’s no one to disappoint except you. Your parents don’t know you made it. Your teacher didn’t hear it. So when the second month starts, the notes aren’t organised and the assignment gets left until the last night, nobody says anything — except the voice in your head that remembers exactly what you promised and isn’t letting it go.
You need realistic planning
Maybe the problem was never the promise itself. Maybe it was how big you made it. Planning is good, but it has to be realistic.
For example, if you can easily carry 2 kg but insist on picking up 10 kg, you won’t get very far. Your legs will start to shake, your shoulders will hurt and, before long, you’ll put the whole weight down. You end up carrying nothing, when 2 kg was always something you could manage.
It’s the same with the goals we set at the start of a new year. We load ourselves with everything at once — better grades, more discipline, perfect habits — and then wonder why, by the second month, we aren’t carrying any of it anymore.
So instead of making a list of 10 or 15 things, just pick two. Not the biggest ones — the smallest, the ones that make you think, “That’s no big deal!” Every night before bed, put your books back in your bag for tomorrow instead of doing it half-asleep in the morning. Or simply keep your desk clear enough that you can actually see the wood. Small things done every day matter far more than five big goals written on a list and forgotten by the weekend.
Plan for two weeks, not the whole year
Saying, “I’ll be a completely different person this year,” is a heavy promise to make on day one. A year is far too long to plan for when you haven’t even opened your first textbook yet.
Forget the whole year and just plan for two weeks. If you want to study a little every evening, try it for 14 days and see how it feels. Two weeks is short enough that missing a day doesn’t feel like a huge failure. If it works, keep going for another two weeks. If it doesn’t, tweak it — with zero guilt attached, because you never promised the whole year anyway.
School is always going to have its heavy times, noisy classmates, rude or loving teachers and sad section shuffles. You can’t control all of that, but you can control how much weight you decide to carry on your back.
Keep it simple, keep it realistic and make this year a breath of fresh air.
Published in Dawn, Young World, August 8th, 2026
