Officially Done

I just handed in my final paper for Sussex about 20 minutes ago.  And, after filling out the required forms and dropping my two copies of my essay into a mysterious box, became officially finished with classes this summer.  A bit anti-climatic, considering I finished this history paper in the middle of the day yesterday, but no stress is probably a good thing.

It’s tough summing up my academic experience this summer, since each class only lasted four weeks and featured such grueling homework as “listen to The Hold Steady” or “watch this Michael Cain film.”  But, overall, these were great classes.  The laid-back attitude of the professors certainly helped, but the real surprise was how much I actually enjoyed the material (a very rare happening). For once, I don’t think I would mind spending another four weeks learning even more about the two subjects I studied this summer. I didn’t say that after Diversity of Life, I can guarantee you that.

I now don’t have any sort of academic class until 2009, which is a bizarre feeling. If I were a hackey idiot, I would write “but the Sun-Sentinel will be a class…on life,” but I have some shreds of dignity/intelligence, and realize it’s not a class, but a job where I will basically be a free labourer for a newspaper. Regardless, no class until next year. I basically go on summer vacation now. In Florida, nonetheless.

With classes out of the way, the last two days will consist of buying gifts/eating food/saying goodbyes. I’ve already had to say farewell to one close friend today, and it wasn’t that bad, but still tinged with plenty of melancholy. The painful part comes when I realize I may never actually see this person again. It’s strange, getting so close to someone over the last eight weeks only to have all those good times reduced to pleasant memories.

But, as I’ve learned so much over the last few years, it’s completely pointless to dwell on the “why” part. It’s how it is, somethings can’t really be fought. And, on an optimistic note, maybe I’m completely wrong. I felt the same way back in 2004, after a summer program at Northwestern ended, fearful I’d never see the people closest to me again. Yet, today, I fair amount of people from that program are among the most important people in my life. Life moves strangely, and sometimes it surprises you.

Like, how I have no class until 2009. Didn’t see that coming!