“Are you excited to go home?” my professor asked, “It’s your last break as a college student, huh?” And it hit me like a swift punch to the gut: this was my last academic break as a undergrad. After this Easter break, the next time I will return home will be as a college graduate. Where did all of this time go? I knew it was going to fly, but wasn’t freshman year like, last week?
Before this conversation with my professor, an instructor I have had since freshman year, I did not think anything of going home for Easter break. It was going to be like every other Easter break: seeing family & friends, sleeping till noon, neglecting to do my school work, and it would involve a lot of chocolate. And then, like always, I would return back to CUA on Monday evening after all of the Easter activities are said and done. I will return to my life of classes, and stressing out about all the school work I did not do over break.
But this time, it is different. This time, I have five weeks of classes left for my entire college career. Eight semesters used to feel like a lot of time and now here I am, almost finished all eight and I am supposedly ready to receive that oh-so-expensive piece of paper that claims I have a “Bachelor of Arts.” I have five weeks to turn in my final assignments, pay for my cap and gown, and make it through final exams to senior week. Then boom, I’ll be sitting on the Basilica Lawn, awaiting my doom that they call “graduating.”
I’m seriously confused, when did all the time I had to pull my life together slip away? Which brings me to my next question, when did Easter egg hunts become job hunts? I spent my Easter Sunday applying for jobs in hopes that maybe someone might be crazy enough to want to hire me after May 14th.
Senior year went too quick. I was told it’s the best year of college, so live it up! But in actuality it has been spent on procrastinating assignments, stressing out about grades/getting and internship/getting a job, trying to go out as much as I can, but actually I end up staying in because I have no money. But its my last semester of college, I should be having fun, right? Every time I have fun or enjoy myself I feel like I should be doing something that will go towards improving my future after I receive my degree.
Then there are the questions that came with Easter break, “So you’re graduating, what are your plans for after?” In my mind I always replied with, “Great question! I was hoping you could tell me because I don’t have a d*mn clue! Not that I think about this question every single day or anything!” I never had to deal with these questions before! The questions usually went a little something like, “How is school? Are you having fun?” The answer was always yes, I am having fun, like I always do! Especially because I didn’t have to worry about anything, except for what I was going to do come summer time. But after summer I would go back to school and everything would be fine again. After this summer…there is no saying where I will end up.
Easter break was fine, it was nice to see my family and friends and casually get drunk while eating Easter ham. But everything is not fine. This time around I have no safety net, and its not all fun and games. I need a plan but I have yet to make one that makes me feel like I have some sort of direction. Worst of all, college is coming to a close approaching end and I am not at all prepared. I wish my Easter basket had a job offer. Or better yet, had an option to let me relive my past three years at CUA, that would be the next best thing besides Jesus, that could rise from the dead.