Break…what?
The end of the semester is such a strange time. I look at my calendar and logically I know it’s coming…in fact, students talk about college breaks so often that it’s one thing that would literally be impossible to forget. And yet, for me at least, the end of the semester is so jam-packed, so busy, so daunting…that I truly and honestly feel that those two weeks will never end. When I say, “I don’t know if I’ll make it”, I’m not exaggerating-I really don’t know! It seems like time stands still…days pass, eventually, but no progress is made. And then, and I know this from past experience, it ends and it’s almost disappointing. Not disappointing in the sense of missing class or school or exams but it all amounts to more waiting and then…after all of that…one grade. That grade, no matter how good or bad, can’t possibly show all of the squeezed deadlines, extracurricular meetings, the dreaded group projects, working through one sinus infection and two stomach viruses in two weeks…the blood, sweat, and tears doesn’t show up on a transcript. And, to be fair, neither does the good stuff-not the novel you read for class that you actually and truly enjoyed, the class discussion that made you forget you were in class, or the partner project where you were assigned a committed partner who actually cares and contributes. One grade. And for that, a full semester that concludes with two weeks of mass chaos. And yet, this was me on Monday.
Here I am on Thursday and I can actually feel it now. I think it may actually end….not in an distant way but truly, really conclude. I can safely turn on my Christmas music, decorate the apartment, and decide that Christmas is indeed coming…the world is indeed moving forward outside of this college campus. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and this one is jolly.