How Long Until the ‘Real’ Semester Actually Begins? (Spoiler: Not Long)

By: Precious Oyewande

The departmental group is flooded with “Welcome back to school!” posts. The announcement has been made; the group chat that has been silent so far is now buzzing, and your parents have officially run out of excuses for you to stay at home. It is official: Resumption is here.

You have performed the great migration, dragging your overfilled bag into the hostel or carving out your corner in your off-campus cubicle after a heroic “general cleaning” battle. Your stuff is arranged or so it is. By every administrative metric, you are physically present. You have resumed! But then… nothing happens. A profound sense of calm descends. You check your timetable, and instead of panic, a single, soothing thought enters your mind: “No panic, semester never start.”

If this is you, congratulations! You have not failed to resume; you have simply activated the student’s secret survival mode. What is this mysterious condition? It’s the universal student understanding that there’s a critical gap between official resumption and actual resumption. It is a sacred period of grace, and smart students know not to squander it on unnecessary panic.

Glancing at your 8 a.m. class and deciding, “lecture fit never hold today”, based on a deep, spiritual hunch honed by semesters of experience. If you open the class WhatsApp group and there’s no frantic 7:15 a.m. message asking, “Is class holding?” then your hunch is correct. The collective consciousness has already decided. Silence is agreement. You receive a 5-page syllabus packed with deadlines, readings, and grading policies. Your reaction? A calm smile.

You treat this crucial document as a mere ‘letter of intent’ or a light suggestion, rather than the binding contract it truly is. You are convinced you can negotiate terms later. This isn’t laziness; its strategy. Why emotionally invest in a course you might later collect an add and delete form for?

Lecturers are also just returning. The one assigning a 40-page reading on Day 1? “Na lecturer wey no get happy home dey do that.” The rest are just as eased in as you are. Your brain is conserving vital energy for the mid-semester marathon. Sprinting now is a rookie mistake.

The three types of Students in the ‘No Panic Era”

The Zen’s: These set of students have achieved a state of calm acceptance. They understand the storm is coming, so they are finding their center and peace first. So they are sleeping, eating well, and mentally preparing. Their mantra: “My brain is loading, please wait.”

The social butterfly: For these students the academic calendar is a social itinerary. The “No Panic” era isn’t a period of rest but of gist exchange. They move from room to room, group to group, not just to say hello, but to gather vital intelligence. “How was your holiday?” really means, “What juicy updates, campus news, or personal drama did I miss?”

The Itinerary Planner: Their schedule is packed with social events. Casual hangouts at the SBJ restaurant and other joints on campus so a lecture is just another potential social venue.

But the “No panic” era is gradually coming to a sweet end. This isn’t just ordinary worry; it’s the emotional equivalent of time travel, where your future self sends back waves of dread to the present. You are mourning the loss of your free time before you have even lost it and battling monsters that haven’t even left their caves.

It’s exhausting, and it makes the “No Panic” era not just a luxury but a necessary act of self-preservation. Don’t just waste this golden time. Use it strategically to set yourself up for a stress-free semester not because you should be stressed, but because a little strategy now means you can genuinely relax later. You have diagnosed the syndrome, you have the game plan, and you know the transition is coming. So the next time you are lounging after resumption, feeling zero guilt, wear it as a badge of honor.

You are not a lazy student; you are a seasoned scholar who understands the unspoken academic calendar. Embrace the “No Panic” phase. Enjoy the calm, reconnect with friends, and soak in the last moments of peace.The panic will come, and you will be ready for it. But for now? No stress, we go dey fine! The semester never start today!