Countdown to Commencement?

It's the third day of my ninth semester at Oberlin, and nothing on my schedule is set in stone. Typical.

All of this craziness started when I realized that I hadn't registered last semester for any of the classes that I ACTUALLY wanted to take in the fall...usually not a huge issue, but since it's my last year, there are several courses that I absolutely must take, or else I don't get to graduate.

That would be unfortunate.

So, I'm on a few waitlists and still shopping around for courses that I can plop myself into to round out my class schedule. Luckily, I generally enjoy learning, so I'll be happy wherever I end up. In case you were wondering, the current frontrunners are in the Geology, Economics, Psychology, and Anthropology departments. Decisions, decisions.

As you might already know, the first two weeks of every semester are always ridiculously busy here; mine are chock-full of business meetings, shifts at Slow Train, shifts in Admissions, and I haven't even added in the time that I want to hole myself up in the library! Take a look at my (unfinished) next week:

It's been worse, though. I'm actually feeling pretty good about my super-scheduled fortnight so far, because I know that things are going to get MUCH easier very, very soon. There are a lot of pretty exciting things that I have planned for this year as well - several trips up to Ithaca to visit my boy, an Economics Ph.D. student at Cornell (so proud!); various music-related shenanigans (including starting a new band!); preparing Fearless and Loathing for future years of badassery; being the best webmaster-slash-boardmember OMTA has ever seen, and writing my thesis, among other endeavors. The funny thing is that no matter how many things I pack into my schedule, I still feel like I can always add more. Who needs sleep, right? Food, however, is a non-negotiable. Oh, man, I like food. (Whoo, tangents.)

Now, there's something that I wanna talk about - the thing that everyone knows, but no one wants to acknowledge.

Walking around campus, I feel old - mostly because more than half of the students I encounter on a daily basis fit into one of several categories: 1) people I've never seen before, 2) people who were born in a year that I clearly remember, 3) people who are at least six inches shorter than I am, or 4) all of the above. Not that it's bad to be short, or to have been born in 1993 or 1994, or to not be one of my close friends - but these things definitely make me remember just how much I need to leave the bubble. Oberlin has been very good to me, but there's an eensy weensie little part of my heart that knows that I should be moving on soon. I'm not all that worried, though - 'cause rumor has it that you can take the girl out of Oberlin, but you can never take Oberlin out of the girl. I'm certain that I'll always carry with me all the beautiful, astonishing, memorable, and totally awesome things about my beloved alma mater, and that makes me smile.

So, with that - on your mark...get set...!