No matter if you're starting kindergarten or beginning your last semester of college, the first day of school is always exciting. Meeting new teachers, reconnecting with old friends, getting freshly-printed syllabi and immediately beginning to stress out over the insane amount of work you're expected to do this semester. Whether it's the very first day of class or the 21st (for all of us last-semester seniors) the first day of school brings with it the promise of a fresh start.
Many teachers will tell you on the first day that everyone has an "A" in the class. While this may be the last day that statement is true for some of us, the prospect of keeping that 4.0 for the whole semester is exciting.
For about a quarter of us last Monday marked our last first day of classes as students at Longwood. When we started college four (or more) years ago it seemed that May 9, 2009, would never come, but now it is just a few short months away. While individual days and weeks with research papers, exams and endless amounts of homework seemed like they dragged on forever at the time, the overall experience has passed in the blink of an eye.
Come May, several hundred of us will be out in the "real world" looking for a place to live and searching for jobs, which seems like a bleak task given the current economic situation. No more month-long winter breaks or summers off. No more late-night alcohol-fueled mayhem (well, for most of us, at least). It's out into the real world with bills to worry about and student loans to repay.
Now, being out in the real world is not all bad. When September gets here I hope to be back in the classroom, only this time on the other side of the desk. I'm the one who gets to give a test the Friday before spring break to make sure kids are in class or have my students get seven articles published, create a special section for the newspaper and convert three writing assignments into a different type of medium. But as Peter Parker says in "Spider-Man," "with great power comes great responsibility." It's not all about finding new ways to torture my students. Parents will be trusting me with their children for seven hours a day, and they're expecting me to actually teach them something.
For 17 years we have been able to maybe skim the assigned reading, possibly work a practice problem or two and then just show up to class 30 seconds before it starts. I still find it strange that in about nine months I will be the one up front who is expected to know everything. No more BSing papers the morning they are due. Scribbling down lesson plans as the students are walking into the classroom would probably be frowned upon too. The rules are changing and roles are being reversed.
Even for those of you who aren't going to be teachers, you too will likely be in a position of authority. As the next class of college graduates the world is looking to us for leadership. Missing a deadline now means getting fired rather than simply getting docked a letter grade. Soon you won't be the one sitting there listening to a professor lecture, you'll be the one up front making a presentation to investors or writing a front-page story for a major newspaper or whatever you plan to do with your life. This change can be scary, but it is also exciting at the same time. Despite the fact that I still find it strange that parents are willing to trust me to teach their children and the way my mouth gets so dry that I can barely speak when I'm in front of a large group of people, I can't wait to get into my classroom and start teaching.
Now that I've sufficiently scared you about what is waiting out there, remember that we still have a few more months left before we walk across the stage to accept our $60,000 piece of paper. But while you're savoring your senior status and hopefully a reduced course load in your last semester (sorry AJ!) remember that this is probably the last time in your life that you will have so little to worry about. We all think it can't get any worse when we have multiple papers, projects and exams on consecutive days but soon we will have spouses, children jobs and mortgages to worry about. So take time this semester to enjoy some of the things you may never have the chance to do again. Cross a few more things off your "101 Things to Do in Farmville" list. Take a spring break trip to the beach with your friends in March.
There is also the opportunity to enjoy several Longwood traditions one last time. With April comes warmer weather and of course Spring Weekend. On the schedule for this year's festivities are __________________. And we also have Senior Week in May to look forward to before saying our final goodbyes to Longwood.
To all the underclassmen who feel like this time will never come, remember that it will be here sooner than you think. Since before I started my freshman year of college I have kept a calendar on my computer counting down the days until Sept. 8, 2009, my first day of teaching. I remember looking at it almost every day, watching the number start out at over 1200 days and creep excruciatingly slowly down, one day at a time. The count now stands at 229 days, but I rarely check it anymore. That time will come soon enough, and right now I want to concentrate on this last semester, improving the newspaper, getting through my classes and spending as much time with my friends as possible.
In May, several hundred of us will be getting our diplomas, never to set foot in a classroom again. But there are a lot of things to do before we get there. Like all semesters do, this one will fly by in a frenzy of classes, papers and parties. Take time to enjoy the semester, whether it is your first or last at Longwood. And seniors, when you get too stressed out remember that graduation is only 108 days away. Let the countdown begin!
Tim Holmes, Managing Editor
