We all told ourselves that when we got to university, we’ll be super organised with our assessments and would never leave anything to the last minute. God, we were so naïve back then.

Pulling an all-nighter is a rite of passage for uni students, and anyone who’s said they’ve never done it is probably lying. Now that you’ve perfected your night-long study routine, here’s a flashback to the stages you went through when pulling your first ever all-nighter.

#1 Confidence

You’ve read through the assignment task sheet and are feeling hopeful. The study snacks are sorted, and you’ve got two cans of Red Bull on your desk ready to take you through the night.

You tell yourself you can easily knock out this assignment in less than eight hours and still get high marks. Sure, it would’ve been nice to have been a bit more organised, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.

#2 Reassurance

You’ve been hard at work for an hour or so, and you’re starting to realise that this maybe wasn’t the best idea.

The assignment is harder than you thought it would be, and your classmates are bragging about how they finished theirs days ago. Nevertheless, you’re still positive that this is something you can pull off.

#3 Nervousness

Time is slipping away from you and you haven’t done anywhere near what you thought you would’ve done by this point in the night. Your snacks are all gone, you’re on your last sip of Red Bull, and you haven’t even reached half of the word count.

You’re starting to doubt your ability to string together a top-notch assignment in such little time, and it’s making you anxious. You don’t know why you thought you could do this, or why anyone would ever want to do this.

#4 Stressing

At this point, you absolutely hate yourself for leaving everything to the last minute. You are a full-blown stress pot and can’t imagine what life was like before this assignment ruined your life.

You’re envious that the rest of the world is sound asleep while you’re here slaving away over your keyboard. All you care about is making that word count, no matter how much sense it makes.

#5 Freak Out

Your deadline is almost here, and there’s still so much left to do. At least 67 per cent of this assignment is utter bullshit, and you’ve got your fingers crossed that it’s enough to pass.

Just when you think you’re getting close, you remember you still have to do all your references. You’re on the verge of screaming into a pillow, but it’s 4am and you don’t want to wake your housemates.

#6 Zen

Something inside you switches, and you’re finally in the zone. So many words are flowing that your fingers are almost flying off the keyboard.

You start to regain faith in yourself. The light at the end of the tunnel is almost upon you, and you’re determined to smash out this last hour or so of work.

#7 Relief

You did it. You actually did it. You’ve finally hit that submit button and nothing has ever felt so damn good. The night from hell is finally over.

You fall into bed just as the sun is rising, giving yourself a pat on the back for a hard night’s work. You promise yourself that you’ll never get do this again, only to break that promise the same time next semester.

(Lead image: Silicon Valley/HBO)