Five stages of LaTeX

 (So, who hasn't struggled with LaTeX? If you haven't, you must be a lowly first year student. Don't worry, it will descend on you like an angry dragon in one of your second year courses.)

Denial:  "Pfft, a new way to format documents? Whatever man. I can type papers at 800 words-per-minute with my eyes closed, using nothing but Wikipedia and a twig held in one toe.

I'll leave it till the night before it's due."

(A week later.)

Anger:  WHAT THE @#$!&(-English expletive infixation-)^&*! IS THIS CONFUSING MESS OF CODE!!! AAAAARGH!  CURSE YOU, LaTeX! *sounds of a hundred Macbooks being flung against the wall in sheer frustration*

(2 hours later.)

Depression:  (If you are whiny) "I can't do it. I just...can't do it. I am a worthless blob of matter floating through the universe, like a plastic bag in the wind. Actually, I'm pretty sure the plastic bag has higher IQ than me and would probably be able to code in LaTeX with no problems. Waaaaaaah. Waaaaah. *sounds of poorly suppressed sobbing into a pillow*

(If you are not whiny, you'll probably just bear the pain in silence while staring at the ceiling and hoping for an asteroid to hit your bedroom before tomorrow morning's class.)

Bargaining: "If I force myself to keep learning, I'll buy myself a pumpkin pie later. No, A MILLION PUMPKIN PIES!" (Replace pumpkin pie with whatever you happen to be addicted to at the moment.)

(16 hours, 3 pumpkin pie slices, and 5 thoroughly read LaTeX manuals later)

Acceptance: Hurray! It wooooorks! Party time! Oh yeah! Who's a LaTeX superstar!
What do you mean none of my friends want to hear about my LaTeX success at  3: 30 am? THEY MUST KNOW.

I'm on the last stage. I think eventually all the students will get there, even if it's a little hard at first. So hang in there and don't forget those { !

Oh - FYI, I made a list of resources for LaTeX learners here.