Beyond the end...

While spring break is right around the corner, beyond it lies a dead sprint to the finish. For some, this is the completion of another academic year. For others, it is much more. Seniors everywhere will see this final stretch of a few weeks after spring break as the harkening of the end. The end of an era and the beginning of a new chapter, adventure, or phase of their lives. Some like to think of their lives as a book, others as a trek on an impossibly tall mountain, a stream with tides that ebb and flow, a race that they run alone, and others still think of a flight. Whatever the metaphor, we often like to make the intangible facts of life tangible with images of things we can understand. For me I think of a book.

This would be the first page of my new chapter. There are many question marks at this time but I try not to be afraid of them. Rather, I consider all of these marks as opportunities. The most common question I'm asked a senior this year is, "What will you do next year?" This is often quickly followed by, "Are you nervous?" The answer to both questions is I don't know. Presented with so many options, I try to dive for all of them. Not only do I have a plan A and B but I had plans all the way to L (for last resort). I apply myself as much as I can to see what sticks. I have found that I don't have the energy to be nervous because I am just excited for the changes to come. Changes in the beyond, that point too far in the future to reach at the moment. So what about now?

It's interesting that length of time is highly influenced by perspective. Before getting to that point beyond and the possibilities that it holds, there is still March, April, and May. These final weeks could either fly by or seem to drag on. What will be the main influence on this is what fills these weeks. Should it be purely academic...well then it may seem to drag. For a club planning to hold some activity, this time may blow by so fast that nothing gets done. These weeks are full of the prior and the latter. But they are on different scales. The former is more personal, the little things that hold you in the moment day to day. The latter requires planning and group work, creating plans for events that may have to put off until the fall.

So which camp is better? Well, neither. Or maybe it's both? The point is that life comes in both flavors of time. There are times when you have a hard deadline and the work is forced to finish. There are other times when you are trying to pursue a new project or idea but it seems too lofty that you never start. It is unpredictable how fast time will seem to move for you. The combinations of these events makes it so that time is always moving. This ever flowing stream of existence will be moving whether or not you chose to jump in. So will you jump? Will this be the end for you? Or is it just the beginning of a new chapter?

Elizabeth DiLoreto is a senior hailing from Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts. She represents Region I of the Student Advisory Committee. Elizabeth is completing her senior year with a Biology major, concentration in Neuroscience, and minor in Psychology.