The semester is definitely underway. I know that this is so when my textbooks are more often off the shelves than on, I never leave home without some sort of study guide, and if I only have $2, chances are I’ll just buy the coffee. Notebooks, index cards, pens, and eReader are what fill my bag, even on my days off, I keep sticky notes near my bed to write down those things that I remember as I’m falling asleep, and if I eat a meal that takes more than 15 minutes to cook, I must be a guest somewhere or at a restaurant.

When my budget cuts out things like makeup, dry cleaning, and clothes to be filled with textbooks, coffee, and another school bag (because I keep buying cheap ones that rip). When I use my small makeup bag as a pencil case, and that stationery becomes a notepad. When waiting on a stalled train is a vacation, and abus even more so (because I have internet access), I know the semester’s definitely underway.

What signs tell you that it’s no longer the start of the semester?