Classes Resuming / Break Ending

January 11, 2009 by Eric Loy 

Just when our bodies and minds have adapted to the numbing tedium of our Winter Solstice Break, the calendar decides to turn on us and signal the start up of spring semester classes.  Weak.

Even with the post-holiday comatose boredom seeping into our brains, the alternative of a hectic schedule of 15 or more credits and 20+ hours of work a week seems less than appealing.  It’s not that we hate college, far from it, but the weekend before the start of a semester always feels like the top of the roller coaster; knots in the stomach predict certain and imminent doom.  But we’ve been here before.   We know that what lies ahead is simply a wild ride, and we’ll come through in one piece at the end of it.  And yet, the knots return, every time.  Or maybe tonight it was that questionable sandwich from Denny’s. 

I digress. 

The past four weeks were tough ones, indeed.  Some of us might even be attributing the term “break” in relation to our morale or spirits.  No one blames you.  We’re poor, bored, tired, sick, depressed, and probably covered in snow.  And in winter break’s twisted and Twilight-Zone nature, the final insult is how we hate to see it go.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, stress, blizzards, illness and completely gratuitous snarky cynicism, we were granted another opportunity to share and spend time with those we care about and love most; the sacred moments found in the shared times when we forget that we just got there and are not thinking about when we have to leave.  Perhaps the worst part about the torturing four weeks between a student’s fall and spring is that we know it can never be long enough. 

Yes, yes.  We’ve had a nice run over the break.  Even with all the reasons to give up hope, there have been no reported reader fatalities as of yet and only a few cases of manic depression with hospitalization.  High five, Rebels!

And I guess the upcoming semester is a bit more approachable than the last.  Spring grants us a week-long reprieve midway through, the Runnin’ Rebels start sprinting towards more conference championships and St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco de Mayo are welcomed blurry-eyed distractions from the grind. 

I hate to say it, but things are looking up.  I guess the meds just kicked in.