Samantha Chaffin
Editor-in-Chief
This fall semester has brought smiles, tears, sleepless nights, elation and anxiety all in 16 weeks.
As many of us scramble to finish up finals and officially conclude the fall semester and the year 2014, many are doing the same but with another end in sight.
An abundance of students who finish finals this December will not only be concluding another semester, but they will be concluding their academic careers, or at least a portion of their academic careers, at ISU.
As I watch December graduates work diligently to finish up their remaining coursework, on one hand I am filled with excitement for them and their accomplishments.
On the other hand, I am filled with anxiety, fear, and pressure. With the end of this semester comes the beginning of the end of my own undergraduate career at ISU. That said, I hope our December graduates have been able to move past any of those emotions and on to more positive ones.
As I finish up final papers and final last-minute studying for exams, I realize that I will only suffer through dead week and finals week one more time after this. You would think this would be a relief, but instead it has made me nostalgic. This is especially true in light of my recent departure from a campus job I’ve had for over two years as I work to move on to “bigger, better things.”
In less than a year, I won’t be a college student, but rather a graduate. That should be a good thing, right?
In a few months when everyone else is looking at creating their fall schedules, I will be looking at job opportunities, graduate opportunities, and rewriting resumes and application essays alongside many of my fellow May graduates.
Lately, every day that I drive to work or class on campus is a reminder that it could be among the last times I do so and that my routine could change drastically in a very short period of time.
As I finished the last class period of dead week with my First Year Seminar class, I realized that this would be the last fall semester I would peer instruct.
As time ticked away on the clock during my last day of classes this semester, I realized they would likely be the last classes I would take with my current professors during my undergraduate career.
Soon, the computer labs and classrooms in the Rendezvous building, the reading room in the Liberal Arts building, and the offices of my professors and departments will no longer be a set of second homes, but rather stepping stones, memories and moments in my life that will shape and mold me for the future.
As I experience all of these things, I can only imagine the magnitude that December graduates must be feeling as they actually experience their “last times” at ISU in this capacity, and I can only imagine the emotional roller coaster I will ride next semester.
Regardless, this semester has reminded me that college really does make up some of the best times of your life, and I hope my fellow graduates, whether they be graduating this December, May or August will keep that in mind as we push forward.
With that, I extend my sincerest congratulations and best wishes to ISU’s December graduates and wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors, whether they be academic, professional, or otherwise.
It’s officially the beginning of the end, and I hope the end brings many great beginnings for all who have earned the privilege to call themselves Bengals.
