It’s that time of year again: The clocks have gone back, the sun sets faster than your motivation, and by 4pm the entire city is plunged into a level of darkness that makes you wonder whether you’ve accidentally slept through the rest of the day. Welcome to the mid-semester existential crisis — a Glasgow classic.
Maybe you’re sitting in the library, maybe you’re staring blankly at a Moodle page, maybe you’re lying in bed because your room is absolutely Baltic and you refuse to get out from under the duvet. Either way, you’ve had the same thought as every other student across campus: “Should I…drop out?”
The universal 4-6pm breakdown
No matter what you study — English, biomedical science, law, engineering, or that one guy who insists his philosophy degree is “actually really employable” — the 4pm darkness hits us all the same.
Your to-do list? Abandoned. Your plans for the week? Cancelled. Your will to live? On annual leave.
This is the exact moment you start imagining an alternative life where you move to the countryside, grow pumpkins, and never look at a Turnitin submission point ever again.
Library energy: Gone
The uni library at 4pm is a scene. Half the students there are genuinely studying; the other half are aggressively pretending they’re fine while staring at a single unread paragraph for 45 minutes.
Someone will definitely be crying in the toilets. Someone will definitely be eating an entire meal cold from a Tupperware. Someone will definitely be Googling: “Is it too late to switch degrees?”
The caffeine spiral
By this point, you’re probably three coffees deep, which is either helping or absolutely destroying your ability to function. You consider buying a fourth until you remember that £3.40 coffees are the reason you have £14 left in your bank account.
Course doubts: Unlocked
Every small inconvenience suddenly feels like a sign from the universe.
Your lecturer uploads a blurry PDF? Maybe academia isn’t for you.
You don’t understand this week’s topic? Clearly you’re not cut out for higher education.
You accidentally open TikTok instead of your readings? Time to drop out and join a monastery.
The group chat is no help
If you message your course group chat about the crisis, you’ll get one of the following responses:
-
“Same babes, I’m actually losing my mind”
-
“Does anyone have the notes from week 5?”
-
“I’m in the pub, come now x”
All three are valid.
But, look, we get through it
Despite the chaos, the doubts, the panic Googling, and the fact the sun is now setting at lunchtime, Glasgow students somehow power through every year. The essays get submitted, the exams get passed (barely), and life goes on.
So if it’s 4pm, it’s pitch black, and you’re on the verge of messaging your mum to say you’re quitting — don’t worry. It’s not just you. It’s the whole city.
And tomorrow? You’ll wake up, make another coffee, and keep going. (Or you’ll skip your 9am. Again).
