Finishing up my second-to-last semester of college, I’ve noticed a pattern: as soon as my classes get settled, and the professor and students seem to find a groove, it’s time for finals. The same phenomenon occurred at the end of my internship this past summer; right when the staff and interns began to bond, we all left to go back to college, promising to stay in touch. Three months seems to be the length of time required to get acquainted with a new situation, and per the structure of higher education, that is the also the time allotted for one semester’s worth of classes. So, as soon as we find ourselves in a routine, we just as quickly find it pulled away from us. As students, we are constantly being forced to switch gears and adapt, which both prepares us for the workforce and doesn’t at the same time.
Change is an inevitable part of life. As humans, we fear it, while recognizing that our adaptability is what has kept our species alive. Perhaps the change from fall to spring semester isn’t quite that scary, especially for upperclassmen who are used to the schedule by now. But it’s always jarring to finally feel settled into a semester and have it wrap up. You rush to finish finals, holed away in obscure corners of the library; you breathe a sigh of relief as you pack and say goodbye to friends before heading home for break. Then, you come back to do it all over again with new classes, new subjects and new professors.
The classes I’ve taken at Connecticut College have left me feeling well-versed in a variety of subjects, the result of being privileged to take classes across a wide range of disciplines during my time here. The downside to such an assortment leaves students craving more: we learn about a lot of interesting topics on the surface level, but we don’t get to dive too far into many subjects. Of course, this isn’t necessarily the case with all classes, and my friends who are currently writing theses are able to delve further into topics that interest them (while also crying and trying to write a million pages before winter break).
Perhaps this taste of subjects will serve to inspire students to pursue these interests post-college. Part of the liberal arts mission is to create life-long learners, to teach students to think critically, to apply the skills that they’ve acquired as undergraduates to their post-graduate lives. At the same time, as students we’ve never known a life that wasn’t broken into semesters and breaks. It might be a wake-up call once we begin jobs and settle into a routine that won’t stop after three months, but that will continue for longer — maybe years, maybe decades.
For a college senior five months away from graduation, the real world seems so much more stable than the choppy semester-break periods of secondary and higher education. But since I’m looking at it from over the gates of our sheltered private school, I might just be projecting my hopes onto an uncertain landscape. In college, we are forced to embrace change as a normal part of our lives. But once we walk away from Conn, diplomas in hand, we will be responsible for making our own changes — for taking what we’ve learned at this institution and applying those lessons to our post-graduate, adult lives.
So, here’s to the end of another semester, and to the start of something new.
Happy finals!
-Melanie
