The Stages of Losing Your GoCard

Who knew a tiny, ugly piece of plastic would mean so much to us? If you’re a Georgetown student, you’ve probably lost your GoCard before. And if you’re like me, you lose it almost every week. How do we cope? Well, the first step is knowing what you’re in for. If you’re not already familiar with the many feelings that come with losing that little card, here’s a reminder.

1. Denial

You lost it. Again. Again?! How did you lose it again? You’ve checked literally all the pockets of all your pants,  the entirety of your now-messier room and retraced your steps of the past few hours. It’s over. It’s gone. You can’t go to Leo’s, you can’t print, and you can’t get into your dorm without awkwardly waiting outside for a stranger to swipe you into the building. Great.

2. Anger

    It’s Day 3, and this whole losing your GoCard thing is ruining your life. You can’t do your laundry, and it might not be the best idea to ask your friend to borrow their GoCard for the 7th time.

3. Bargaining

    Here’s how you explain your situation to the swipe-in security officers: “Hi, I lost my GoCard. I’m sorry. I don’t — is that — okay? It might be upstairs, I don’t know. Okay great, yes, next time. I live here, I promise!”
    Here’s how they respond: They shrug, wave you along, maybe utter a soft “K” or “You’re fine…”

4. Depression

    Another day, another fruitless search for the GoCard. You’re sad. You’re confused. Do you keep looking for it? Do you even care at all?

5. Acceptance

Fine. It’s time for that trek up to the infamous GoCard office. You usually only go up to this location for late-night Epi runs, so this is new for you. But it’s time – it’s been time. You may be losing $25, but hey, at least you can try to get a better GoCard picture this time.

Photos/gifs: newstudent.thehoya.com, giphy.com

The Five Stages of Finals Acceptance

5 Stages of Finals Acceptance

Study Days: a time when classes are over, alarms are turned off and fashion doesn’t exist. Sadly, they are simply a precursor to final exams, those pesky little tests that cover basically everything you’ve learned in the semester. Here at 4E, we know all too well that it takes a little time to come to grips with the impending doom. Here are your five stages of finals acceptance:

1. Denial

Finals? What finals? The first stage is always denial. It’s just too easy to go on, blissfully “unaware” of the impending finals-induced pain. You enjoy your final semi-formals, sleeping in and not having to go to class — ignoring the reason why you don’t have to go to class.

2. Procrastination

OK, so it starts to set in that all of your final exams and papers are about to hit you like a giant brick wall. That doesn’t mean that you necessarily start studying, though. It just means one more Sporcle quiz, one more phone call to your mom or one more load of laundry. Maybe it’s time for a new profile picture? Literally any excuse not to study.

3. Studying Begins

So you’ve finally exhausted all other options. It’s time to gather your books and head to Sellinger, Lau 2, Starbucks or any other social study environment. After all, you won’t be seeing your friends for a while after the next couple weeks. Who says you can’t study and have fun?

4. Panic

Looks like you’ve been having too much fun and not enough studying. It’s time to make the dreaded trip to the “bookends” of Lau (see what I did there?) and head to the silent sanctums of either Lau 1 or 5. You’ve got six pages of a Problem of God paper left to write and a microeconomics exam tomorrow. The Self-Control app is a necessity.

5. Relief

 

At long last, you are finally free! You hand in that last paper, fill in your last Scantron-bubble and crank up Queen’s “We Are the Champions” — maybe that last one is just me. Sure, you still have a lot of packing left, and yes, end of the year goodbyes are sad. But the burden of finals week is finally off of your shoulders.

Gif: tumblr.com, pandawhale.com, wordpress.com; Photo: wisconsinwatch.org