With school underway and classes more or less calmed down after the madness of the first week back, many students are reeling from the costs recently incurred by textbooks. To help better illustrate the pain and agony caused by the purchasing of textbooks each semester, I went to the liberty of constructing a five-stage explanation. It is my hope that after this, we can all come to understand textbook grief a little better.
The first reaction to the new semester is the denial of needing any of your classes’ textbooks. Sure, the syllabus might state “required text,” but you know that that is just an industry buzzword for “I am pressuring you to buy this!” We all have that one semester where we bought all of our textbooks and used none. It is a tough pill to swallow, but we cannot let our past mistakes dictate our current predicament. The denial stage is a hard one to overcome, but you must persevere!
Worse than the first stage, however, is the anger that follows. You find yourself three weeks in and the professor uses or references the textbook almost every class. Even the quizzes are based on reading the chapters. This is when you become angry that you didn’t just buy the textbooks earlier. This stage hits hard and it hits fast, so you’ve got to pull yourself out of it before it’s too late.
Next,you will try to bargain for a cheaper price for the textbook. You might check out Chegg.com or renting from the University Bookstore. You might plead for your teacher to post the chapters online or to give out a free e-version to the class. When you have done all you can do and still nothing works, it is unfortunately a quick descent into the fourth stage.
Depression is never good for anyone, especially college students just trying to buy textbooks. This stage will have you doubting everything you thought you knew about college. You won’t know who to trust anymore, and you’ll be desperately trying to save the money needed for your textbooks. Finally, after you’ve almost had enough, there will be a light at the end of the hallway.
Your humbling acceptance that you need to buy your textbooks will be a moment of enlightenment. The idea will sound great, and you’ll proudly run to the bookstore and pay full price for all of your books. Unfortunately, the semester is almost over already. You waited too long and were caught in the stages of textbook grief! You will make a pledge not to let this happen next semester and hope for the best.
In the end, what can we learn from all of this? For one, do not be that person who does not think buying textbooks is worth it! Use your own judgment for each class and decide if buying the textbook is the best thing to do. Also, always try to rent or buy online elsewhere to save money, but avoid thinking you can hold out without consequences. Remember, only you can prevent living through textbook grief.
