Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. Except, in my case, the show is going to be ending rather more quickly than I would like. Over break I realized that once the new semester had begun I would only have a year and a half left of undergraduate: for those of us who are juniors, and especially you seniors, the easiest years of our lives are drawing to a rapid close. This is problematic for several reasons, not the least of which is that I have a feeling attending graduate school and finding a job in the near future means that at some point soon I have to stop watching TV and sleeping all the time and, you know, become responsible. Anyone know how to do that? Call me if you figure it out.
Most of y’all may disagree with me on this, but (this year’s sense of impending doom aside), I always like spring semester better than the fall. Fall is fun, of course, due to the thrill of reuniting with old friends, football games and rush parties. But it’s also slightly stressful to me: A lot of people (cough-freshmen-cough) wander around lost and with football season, Saturdays are completely taken over by the festivities.
During spring term, on the other hand, (almost) everyone knows what they’re doing by now. Basketball games are at odd times, and there are so many you can pick and choose which to go to or watch on TV. March Madness is super fun, even for those of us who aren’t huge basketball fans. There are cooler conferences and speakers on campus in the spring than in the fall (yes, I’m dorky). We get a whole week off during the middle of the semester. Spring arrives after a dark and gloomy winter. And my favorite weekend of college takes place at the end of February/beginning of March, in a certain boxing arena here in Knoxville. All good things, I say.
And this year we had more than a month off for break and then a three-day weekend after three days of classes. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop: Does UT think they can keep us in school longer in the summer because we had a longer winter break? One of the first things I check when I get a syllabus in class is the date of the final (and this year especially, because I was worried they might try to keep us here till June). It does seem like exams are a few days later than usual, but for me and maybe for some of you, this is fantastic news: Beale Street Music Fest falls on the weekend during our study days, so no more missing out on James Taylor on Sunday night because I have an early exam and two papers due Monday. (True story. Sad, I know.)
Can I confess something that’s a bit embarrassing? The past week and a half I’ve been so focused on moving back in, starting school, getting books and figuring out my schedule and whatnot, that I completely forgot why we had this weekend off. I only got to Knoxville Monday and then left town again Friday, so it’s not like I’ve been back in a school rhythm, and it seemed completely normal that I didn’t have class Monday. But, as everyone but me probably knew, yesterday (well, for you, yesterday: my deadline is Sunday, and I’m writing this Saturday so for me it’s two days from now) was Martin Luther King, Jr Day. It’s also a year since the United States of America swore in its first African-American president (with great hoopla and bitterly cold weather). I wish I had something profound to say about this, but I only wanted to mention it because I think it’s worth reflecting upon. As one of my history professors said the first day of class, we study history (or remember the lives of certain people who have gone before us) to learn who we are. To me that seems a subject worth learning about.
Godspeed this semester, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to Coach Derek Dooley and his family. Here’s hoping he lasts longer than 14 months. Good luck and see you next week!
— Leigh Dickey is a junior in global studies and Latin. She can be reached at [email protected].
