A friend of mine once told me a joke: "There are two kinds of people in this world, those who need closure..." as his voice trailed off I instinctively interjected "And?" But that was the whole point. There are those who need closure and this was meant to show you that you're one of them. It's very true, my life becomes extremely unnerving when I haven't received closure in different areas; ambiguity doesn't always sit well with me. I also need time to reflect on what has happened during each season of my life. So this is it, the bookend to this semester. Fall 2013 Semester is basically over.
A mere two hours ago I walked out of a physics classroom for hopefully the last time ever. It also happened to be my last final of the semester. Aside from a couple extra credit reports that I'm trying to convince myself I should write, I am done. I have no more academic commitments for the rest of 2013, which is such a relief. This semester has been kind of rough... I averaged about 4.5 hours of sleep a night, and only had one day off (no work, no school, no orchestra) over the course of the whole semester, even over academic advising and Thanksgiving breaks I was still busy. I don't mean to make you feel sorry for me, most of it was my choice or a direct result of my choice. Meaning, I want to be at Calvin more than anywhere else in the world. I can't afford to come to Calvin without working, therefore I work about ≈25 hours a week, although it does vary. But it's tough being that busy all the time. I know "that's the life of a college student," but I'm not sure it's supposed to stress me out that much. It definitely had some detrimental effects.
Even though I was pretty stressed, overworked and underpaid for the majority of the semester, I still managed to enjoy myself sometimes. I let the nerd flag fly: I was one of the many who stood in line for a couple hours and one of the few that actually got into the inaugural Grand Rapids Comic Con. I got to see the Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special in theatres in 3D! I wrote in Circular Gallifreyan and made my own cipher (although I never did use it for anything).
I taught my first class ever.
I wrote my own case study of a learner who struggles in school.
I had class for 12 straight hours once.
My calling to teach was confirmed above and beyond what I thought it would be.
My calling into chemistry was confused... what I thought was a love of chemistry began to disappear, thanks to organic chemistry. I now don't know whether I was never supposed to be in chemistry in the first place or if God is calling me in a different direction that I didn't expect, or if I just need to stick this one out and it'll get better from here.
I got a 96% on a 12 page research paper that I did the research for AND wrote in the span of about 36 hours. That's not 36 cumulative hours of work, it's that I spent at most a day and a half working on this paper.
I played some of the most glorious parts of Handel's Messiah.
But that's not all I did! I also built and upheld a lot of relationships. I reconnected with some people from high school. I got to know some coworkers from Michaels a lot better. I built up stronger friendships with people from Calvin that I knew from last year, and started new ones with some other fellow Knights. I started dating a most wonderful guy. I remained a daughter, a sister, a friend, a student, and an employee (though at times I wasn't really the best of any of them, but I tried).
I was reunited with the Charming Cellos of Calvin College was so excited to welcome many new charming cellists to the section. I found greater purpose and joy in making music than I have in any of my previous nine years in orchestra (not to downplay those, I made some of the best memories in those nine years due to orchestra). I went to Spanish chapel almost every week to get back into hearing and speaking Spanish. And now that my semester has finally come to a close, I am headed to enjoy my short break before I, along with 15 of my fellow musicians travel to Costa Rica for an Interim Chamber Orchestra Tour. I'm literally so excited, and even though we've got a lot to prepare it's going to be a wonderful experience. So, on the whole, I'm glad this semester happened, but I am glad that it is no more and I am looking forward to the New Year, new beginnings, new adventures and whatever life has to throw at me next semester.
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