Title: An Alternate Route
Today is the last Thursday you have class. After today, you have only five more days of classes till finals (and freedom). Take a moment to let that sink in (and try to control your shouts of joy: If you don’t, your bio/English/poli sci professor may come over and take your Beacon from you and then you’d have to pay attention in class.) Since today’s the last Thursday of classes, it’s also the last time I get to spend with you lovely people this semester. I thought I’d take the time to list a few things we have to look forward to (dread) in the coming weeks.
1. Increased prevalence of cold/flu/sickness: The end of the semester, with classes wrapping up and all those major projects and presentations finally due, seems just the right time to come down with some odd cold/flu combination. Ideally, you will pass on your germs to the other members of your group (if nothing else, it would make for an interesting presentation, with all of you coughing and sniffling). Luckily holidays and finals time means you and I are not stressed and will be getting plenty of rest and eating healthy food, so we’ll get over whatever we have in a flash.
2. Holiday-themed cups at Starbucks: This one is happy. The holiday-colored cups at Starbucks fill me with an irrational and inexplicable joy. It puts me in a good mood because it seems to me that if Starbucks is excited enough to go to the effort of changing the colors of their cups, I should be excited about something too. Woohoo! Yay, winter! And the seasonal flavors — peppermint, gingerbread and egg nog — have returned as well. This doesn’t excite me as much because I discovered long ago that, if you ask, you can get the peppermint flavor, my favorite, year-round (Don’t tell anyone that though. It may be some sort of Starbucks secret.).
3. Changing weather: Usually the end of the semester and the holiday season means cold weather, with a possibility of snow. This hasn’t happened yet (the blame for which I place equally on schizophrenic Knoxville weather and global warming), but it might, so just be aware of the possibility. I loathe being cold, but in the winter we get to wear pretty sweaters and scarves and corduroy pants, so there’s a (very very faint) silver lining. Also, when it drops to about 50 degrees (which is freezing to me), I don’t feel like as big of a bum for wearing sweatpants around my apartment constantly because it’s OK to wear sweatpants (and fuzzy socks) if it’s cold outside.
4. Thanksgiving break: This is a mixed blessing. At first blush, who doesn’t love Thanksgiving? A holiday centered on eating and then, after that, maybe spending time with your family (or watching football). Plus, there’s the Macy’s Parade. All in all, a good thing, I think we can agree. Thank goodness our university recognizes the significance of the holiday and plans our academic calendar accordingly. Having a whole week off for Thanksgiving is so … oh, wait a minute. I wasn’t looking at the UT schedule just now; I must have confused it with Vanderbilt’s. And Georgia’s. And Auburn’s and Ole Miss’s, the four SEC schools that have a week off to accommodate travel time during the holiday season. Well, OK, I don’t need a week to get home and help my mom get ready for Thursday’s Thanksgiving dinner. Just a day or two would suffice. Thank goodness we get the Wednesday before … huh. I must have mixed up the schedules again and become confused when I was looking at the calendars of Mississippi State, Arkansas, Alabama, LSU, South Carolina and Kentucky. We’re not alone, though: One other SEC school lets out for only the Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving — Florida. (What good company the UT admin has us keep.) And with the last two days of classes landing on the two days after Thanksgiving break, most of us don’t have so much a break to spend with family as a few days at home finishing all our papers and tests. (At least I have a legitimate excuse to get out of helping to clean the house this year. Sorry, Mom.)
5. Flash rave: Enough said.
There you go: some good things, some bad, for you to think about as we finish classes. Good luck as you wrap up the semester and take your finals. Have a Happy Thanksgiving (regardless of the break’s brevity), Merry Christmas to you and a Happy New Year. It’s been a pleasure.
— Leigh Dickey is a junior in global studies. She can be reached at [email protected].
