The final stretch

Murphy’s Law goes into full force at this point in the semester, right after spring break, when the papers and presentations are happening faster than you can cite your sources and the job search is getting more and more real, taking up unbelievable amounts of each day that passes. For example, the one time I lose my voice this semester conveniently happens the day before I have my first phone interview for a magazine in NYC. Also, the weekend I planned to visit my friends at IU (B-town, Indiana) just so happens to be the same weekend the Compassion Forum. I’m sure the Secret Service will greet me with a warm welcome back on campus.

As the end of the semester draws near, things aren’t slowing down, and apparently neither do the emotions of a second-semester senior. One minute, all I can think about is the countdown to graduation, and the next, I’ll be wishing that I had some more time here than mere weeks. At the last Coffeehouse, my friends and I scanned the audience of mostly underclassmen and we realized that we have both recently been wondering if we could do it all over again, would we? By “it,” I mean the whole college thing. Knowing what I know now as a senior, what would I do differently if I could re-live these past four years? What about myself would stay the same? What social groups would I be a part of?

It’s impossible to change the past, but the future lies just ahead, and what we do with it can alter a lot of things. Graduation is just as exciting a time as starting college, and though I may not always believe it, at least this chapter ends with the beginning of a new one.

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