I’ve been out of high school for nearly 15 years already and out of college for 11. So why is it, then, that my worst (and recurring) nightmare is centered around my school days?
Here’s what happens every single time:
It’s the morning of a major test, and I get to school with enough time to spare to take a trip to my locker to get the materials that I’ll need in order to take said test. My hands are overflowing with books – wait, why don’t I just have a bookbag? – and I manage to balance them all in one arm while fumbling with the lock on my locker door. Only, crap… that’s when I realize that I can’t, for the life of me, remember my combination. 27-6- uh… 32? No, that’s not it. 14? Nope, that’s not working either. I start to get nervous as I look at my watch and see that I’ve got to hurry if I’m going to make it to class in time to take my test. Then, relief hits me. I wrote my combination down on the inside of one of my notebooks! I dump my pile of books on floor, and I can finally start to feel the blood rush to my lower arm and hand again. I hadn’t realized just how heavy those books were. I sort through the pile, and it dawns on me that the notebook I need is one of the ones still in my locker – right there with the things I need for my test. Ugh! Why is this happening to me? I don’t have time for this today. I start to feel hot, and I start to get nervous about the time. I decide I better just go to class and just forget the stuff I need for my test. It’s better to be on time and just take the test rather than be late or skip it all together, right?
So I stack my books back up in my arm – here we go again – and as I top off the pile with one last notebook, the one underneath that tumbles to the floor. I have the sudden urge to just throw them all on the floor and stomp on them, but I can’t if I’m going to make it to class in time for this test. It will, after all, make or break my entire grade in this class. I bend down ever so carefully and stack the books back up, balancing the pile on my chin for support.
I turn the corner from my locker and start down the hallway to my class. Room 217. Only now I can’t find Room 217. What in the world is going on? I go to this class every day. Why can’t I find it now? Silly me – It must be the next hallway, after you turn left at the end of this one. As I finally near the end of the hallway and turn left, I’m confident that I’ll still make it in time. I only had a few more doors to go. But wait – Room 217 isn’t down this hallway, either. What the heck?? I decide that maybe I’ve got my schedule all mixed up, and I’m supposed to be on the third floor instead of the second. Maybe it’s Room 317. I start up the stairs, still barely holding on to my teetering pile of books. I make it to the third floor and down the hallway that looks identical to the one I was just on. I frantically race past classroom after classroom, and there’s still no sign of my room. I begin to panic, thinking of how missing this test is going to ruin my entire year and all hopes of getting into my favorite college. By now, I’m in tears and wake up in a cold sweat, heart pounding out of my chest.
The funny thing about it is that, for some reason, I never think to stop and ask someone where my classroom is. Instead, I panic and wake up a nervous wreck. It’s so odd to me that all these years later, I still stress out about school and my grades. I’ve always been a perfectionist, and I’ve always said that it’s my best and worst trait all in one. I guess this is one of those times that it really is my worst.
What about you? Do you have any odd recurring dreams (or nightmares, as is the case for me)?
January 17th, 2014 at 11:00 am
I felt anxious just reading this.
January 17th, 2014 at 11:06 am
It gets me every time! At least you make me feel like I’m not really crazy.
Or maybe we both are…!
January 17th, 2014 at 11:11 am
I have a combination dream of oversleeping and missing the first class of the semester to the whole can’t find the classroom thing. Over and over. Sometimes it seems more like college, sometimes it seems more like high school. I hate that dream–it’s completely restless.
January 17th, 2014 at 11:23 am
It’s terrifying! Isn’t it funny how missing the first class of the semester completely ruins you?!
January 17th, 2014 at 11:26 am
I have never missed a first day of class. I don’t know what the deal is with that. 🙂
January 17th, 2014 at 11:36 am
Weird!
January 17th, 2014 at 11:11 am
I have these too! Although now, I definitely have the dance one more often. I show up to a show and don’t know any of my routines so I have to learn them in approximately 5 minutes. HATE IT!
January 17th, 2014 at 11:24 am
The stress we put on ourselves is unbelievable! And you probably relive yours every night you go to dance!
January 17th, 2014 at 12:48 pm
I still have similar dreams and only recently learned how common they are ie. can’t find locker, go to school naked, etc. I think they tend to surface more when we are feeling anxious and out of control . . .
January 17th, 2014 at 1:01 pm
That’s interesting – I’ll need to keep track of my general mood/stress level when I have them.
Thanks for your thoughts! And I’m glad to know I’m not crazy!
January 17th, 2014 at 1:02 pm
I have a recurring dream where for some reason I haven’t been to class in months, and we’re about to get a major test.
January 17th, 2014 at 1:04 pm
Oh my! I would wake up panicking!
It’s fascinating to me how many of us have school dreams.
January 17th, 2014 at 1:55 pm
I dream that I am in a mansion or cathedral with a never ending staircase. I also dream about swimming in a lake with a very old friend. That one is a happy dream!
January 17th, 2014 at 1:57 pm
Aww, I love the sound of the lake one! It sounds quaint and comforting!
The never-ending staircase: Are you climbing it?
January 17th, 2014 at 2:20 pm
Yes and there is always a new floor added with swirls of darkness above….
January 17th, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Scary! I think I would get claustrophobic!
January 17th, 2014 at 3:03 pm
Methinks my future is dark and unknown and opens up right before I pass through…..
January 17th, 2014 at 3:15 pm
I love that interpretation! 🙂
January 17th, 2014 at 3:48 pm
And I think yours is: what can go wrong WILL
January 17th, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Leave it to me, the realist… 😉
January 18th, 2014 at 2:38 pm
I still have dreams about when I was on a mission. It’s weird though because I have my current situation, wife, kids and job. I get confused on how I am supposed to leave them behind to do it?
January 18th, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Wow. That one’s pretty deep. Do you wake up stressed or nervous?
January 18th, 2014 at 8:18 pm
Yeah, when I have dreams like that.
January 20th, 2014 at 3:31 pm
No specific dreams that are recurring, but I do dream of school now and again because I hated it so much. Sadistic teachers who would be classed as child abusers now. I couldn’t wait to leave.
January 21st, 2014 at 9:31 am
Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. How awful. I’m sorry you had to deal with that from people whom you should have been able to trust. What a sad, sad world we live in.
January 21st, 2014 at 2:27 pm
Unfortunately it’s a sad world. But things shoukd be better we hope now.
January 21st, 2014 at 3:18 pm
I need deodorant after reading this, I got all sweaty! Poor girl! The only recurring dream I have from time-to-time is me being whisked off while I am in labor – only I never knew I was pregnant. HELP!