Friday, December 17, 2004
Wake Up
December 15th
I rolled out of bed at 8 a.m., groggy, nauseous. It was cold outside, 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and snowing. Oh brrr, I though to myself. I went through the whole semester without pulling out my winter coat, but out it came this morning. Looking like a green penguin, I walked to the dining hall with my arms puffed out to my sides by my coat. I had a good breakfast, and then I walked back outside. Twenty minutes of walking in the snow up that steep hill again, but this would be the last time.
I rolled into the exam room like a white snowball. I tried to wake up, but I was too sleepy. The professor passed out the final exams, and I looked at it, and I gave it a first try. Too many questions left unanswered. Like during two of my other finals this semester, for a moment I just wanted to pause and cry. I inhaled deep and plowed through my final final.
By 11:45 a.m. I was out of the exam room. All downhill from here. I wanted to give myself a hard time over not feeling too good about that final exam, but before I even started I remembered that this was it. No more of this semester. I was officially done with it. While I can't say that I won't ever take an upper level science class again, I don't plan on taking three in one semester with two more classes "on the side" anytime soon.
Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. A smile was all I could muster, and my heart felt light. While I was taking the test, the campus maintenance people spread sand and salt all over the sidewalks to melt the snow. The heavy gray clouds cleared up and the sun managed to poke out in between the falling snow flakes. Walking back down the hill I noticed that the sun's rays reflected off the wet, dark, brick sidewalk and made it look golden. That's it, I'm walking down a gold path, my yellow brick road, and I can't even help it.
Looking back on this semester, I find it hard to believe that something that started out so bad ended so good. From living in the campus slums, spending my days in the library and my short nights gripping my pillow tight as my stranger of a roommate slammed his keyboard in between bouts of cussing time and time again, to moving into my own place halfway through the semester, finding friendship for the first time in this cold place, learning to put myself first even when it meant putting my schoolwork second, and beginning to experience something like my own inner peace for the first time. It seems like I came a long way, and I don't even know what that means.
December 16th
Now two airplane flights and a refreshing 11-hour night sleep separate me from that weird semester. It's over, and most of all I'm moving on. But dang, I'm sure gonna miss those impromptu one, two, step dance parties with my neighbors. We turned it into quite a tradition during final's week! LOL. Aw shucks, I guess I’ve even got something to look forward to now. :-)
I rolled out of bed at 8 a.m., groggy, nauseous. It was cold outside, 19 degrees Fahrenheit, and snowing. Oh brrr, I though to myself. I went through the whole semester without pulling out my winter coat, but out it came this morning. Looking like a green penguin, I walked to the dining hall with my arms puffed out to my sides by my coat. I had a good breakfast, and then I walked back outside. Twenty minutes of walking in the snow up that steep hill again, but this would be the last time.
I rolled into the exam room like a white snowball. I tried to wake up, but I was too sleepy. The professor passed out the final exams, and I looked at it, and I gave it a first try. Too many questions left unanswered. Like during two of my other finals this semester, for a moment I just wanted to pause and cry. I inhaled deep and plowed through my final final.
By 11:45 a.m. I was out of the exam room. All downhill from here. I wanted to give myself a hard time over not feeling too good about that final exam, but before I even started I remembered that this was it. No more of this semester. I was officially done with it. While I can't say that I won't ever take an upper level science class again, I don't plan on taking three in one semester with two more classes "on the side" anytime soon.
Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. A smile was all I could muster, and my heart felt light. While I was taking the test, the campus maintenance people spread sand and salt all over the sidewalks to melt the snow. The heavy gray clouds cleared up and the sun managed to poke out in between the falling snow flakes. Walking back down the hill I noticed that the sun's rays reflected off the wet, dark, brick sidewalk and made it look golden. That's it, I'm walking down a gold path, my yellow brick road, and I can't even help it.
Looking back on this semester, I find it hard to believe that something that started out so bad ended so good. From living in the campus slums, spending my days in the library and my short nights gripping my pillow tight as my stranger of a roommate slammed his keyboard in between bouts of cussing time and time again, to moving into my own place halfway through the semester, finding friendship for the first time in this cold place, learning to put myself first even when it meant putting my schoolwork second, and beginning to experience something like my own inner peace for the first time. It seems like I came a long way, and I don't even know what that means.
December 16th
Now two airplane flights and a refreshing 11-hour night sleep separate me from that weird semester. It's over, and most of all I'm moving on. But dang, I'm sure gonna miss those impromptu one, two, step dance parties with my neighbors. We turned it into quite a tradition during final's week! LOL. Aw shucks, I guess I’ve even got something to look forward to now. :-)
