Opinion
The beginning of the end has started
February 2, 2007
So they have finally come and gone: the last first day of classes, the last first week of classes, the last weekend after the first week of classes and this is a semester of finales for me, as I conclude five years of academic questing.
As I look back over those five short years, I realize how important the good, but especially the not so good experiences were for me.
If I hadn’t started out as a biology major for three semesters before realizing that writing lab reports was the only part of chemistry I was any good at, I wouldn’t have had this whole extra year to get my degree in English.
Therefore, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to get to know some people, and I wouldn’t have been able to meet many others.
If I hadn’t been forced to eat the food at Rodli, I might never have become acquainted with the dollar menu, and other ways to spend very little money for a lot of food. I also realized even food you don’t like can cause you to get a little chubby, so you’re better off at least enjoying accumulating poundage.
When I moved off campus my junior year, I was confronted with the dread of actually getting mail, just as my parents had always warned me would happen.
As the end of the month crept closer, eating out and going to the movies gave way to creative combinations of whatever in the fridge was about to expire and watching “Runaway Bride” on TBS.
Another side effect of living off campus is a longer stroll to class. Sometimes it’s hard to ensure that extra 20 minutes of walking time when sleep feels so right, and I end up having to drive. By that time, parking spots are scarce, so once you find one, you go for it, even if it requires parallel parking.
In order to save a few precious minutes, I learned to parallel park my crazy awesome van in less than thirty seconds.
Just don’t time me if you ever get the chance to witness it. I get self-conscious.
Walking to class is sometimes treacherous.
It took witnessing several people fall and almost falling myself to realize that sensible shoes are a lot less embarrassing in the long run.
No matter how great heels make your butt look, it doesn’t look so great with a giant wet spot creeping over the seat of your pants.
There are a lot of fun things that taught me lessons as well, like if you’re going to keep a kitten in your dorm room, hide the kitty toy packaging in your garbage. Those are kind of hard to explain away.
However, the most important lessons are the hard ones to learn. Although at some point you may be going through a hard situation, a time will come when you’ll realize it was all worth the struggle.
Just keep a positive attitude and allow the chips to fall where they may.
After all, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, and I say true dat, to that.
Cassie Rodgers is a student at UW-River Falls.