Hello everybody! It’s certainly been a long time, but I can explain.
Since I last published a blog post, I’ve submitted my thesis, defended it, presented it to the department, and competed in Amherst’s 3 Minute Thesis contest. I’ve also begun to experience a lot of my lasts before graduating, including our last Wine and Cheese at the Zü, my last full week of classes, my last radio show for WAMH, and probably a million more lasts that I don’t even know were lasts. I had my 22nd birthday, broke my bike again, and found out that the funding for my post-grad plans has been cut… Basically, it’s been busy, and the blog has kind of fallen to the wayside. But I’m not done yet sharing Amherst with you all, and will be posting up until the very end.
The grass in the backyard of the Zü has grown to knee height, I’m spending all my time on the side porch, and we had our first summer storm yesterday afternoon. My trusty box fan is back in the window, I’ve got multiple vases of cut flowers in my room, and I’m planning my first trip back outdoor swimming very soon.
Today is the Sunday before the last two days of classes. On Tuesday evening, we have Senior Assembly, where we process for the first time in our regalia, then celebrate on the Valentine quad before “dorm storming” our freshman dorms. I still have a couple of final assignments, but with my thesis done, my attention has mostly shifted away from academics. Next week is finals week, then it’s senior week, then we graduate on May 25… 21 days from now.
I’m starting to accept that college life will never be normal again. It’s going to be a continuous series of lasts, fluctuating feelings, balancing thinking about the past and trying not to freak out about defining the future, and feeling deep, deep gratitude for the time I’ve had here.