'gatelife

Adam and Eve; oh how we've missed you

SPRING!!(?)  With Adam and Eve finally back on campus (Colgate takes the swans away to the zoo for the winter months, where it is reported that they live in luxury before returning to grace Taylor Lake), it seems like spring might finally be here to stay.  I must admit, I am very hopeful, and I've been watching the trees attentively for the slightest trace of a budding leaf.  Pretty soon I will be trading in my Uggs for flip flops and sun dresses. 

There is nothing better than Colgate in the Spring.  Everyone rejects their work for a good afternoon in the sun playing pickup whatever.  In fact, I cannot wait to set up the badminton net in my side lawn.  So bring on the sunshine!

No Countdowns

So Saturday night, I went to the Virginia Coalition concert (it was awesome!) and I looked around as I was surrounded by my very best friends in the whole world and was struck by the realization that I have to graduate.  Sure, I've known that the black robe was coming up faster than I wanted to admit, but this was the first time that it really hit me.  I realized that I didn't have many more nights like this one.  When I got back from Spring Break, I had a note on my white board, with a count down until our senior week in Hilton Head. Another senior in the house crossed it out simply writing "no countdowns."  I think we all desperately hope that if we refuse to count away the days, they may somehow go more slowly. 

As I sat over my dinner of Slices with my best friend Kyla, I told her I was surprised at where it was all going to end.  I think as a last semester senior you begin to realize what's really important.  Your group of friends starts to thin out as you make the decisions of who you want to stay an integral part in your life, and who will have to simply remain another facebook friend you keep in touch with  every once in awhile.  We begin to think about where we are going and what we'll be doing.  Boyfriends and girlfriends are faced with hard decisions, and more and more people seem to be rejecting the hook-up culture in favor of something more meaningful.  Something to remember.  Isn't that what we're all looking for?  Something to remember?

Sunshine on my shoulders...

Makes me happy.  I'm about to walk up the hill to class, and I'm wearing my sunglasses.  Don't get me wrong, I'm also wearing a scarf, mittens, and a down jacket, but the shades make me feel like spring is on the way.  But I was wondering in a recent email to an old high school friend-- Do I actually want spring to come? 

There is nothing like spring at Colgate.  Everyone avoids their work in favor of the outdoors, and it's hard to find a face without a smile attached.  The sun dresses and high heels come out, and even though its only 60 degrees, bikinis are completely acceptable.  But this year, spring brings with it something new: the end.  So as I count down the days to a tan, I also give away the last days of my college experience.  What a catch-22 we are in. 

Dear Hamilton Weather Goddess,

Please make up your mind.  The other students and I are confused.  Let me recap my day:

8:15- Rain and green grass (in January!!)

8:45- Sheets of ice on the road (heels were a bad idea)

11:00- an inch of snow (change the heels for the uggs)

12:30- Biting cold winds

2:45- Sunshine and blue skies

Let me tell you--Al Gore would have a field day with our campus.  My first year, the winter coats came out in October.  Last year, I was wearing open toed shoes during December.  Call it global warming, call it climate change, call it weird luck, but its here. 

Today's sunshine makes me wish for spring.  In fact, I cannot wait to sit on the lawn and avoid my homework to the best of my ability. 

A Case of the "Last Times"

The final hoorah, the last sha-bang, the end of the party:  Whatever you want to call it, it's here. 

It doesn't seem possible that after what felt like a moment, seven semesters have flown by and only one remains.  This surreal feeling has accompanied the Class of 2008's return to campus and has left every senior with a case of the "last times".  As I drove on to campus late Sunday night, I couldn't help but think, "This is the last time I'm going to start a new semester here."  The next day, I realized that it was my last day of half classes, Tuesday was the last first day of normal classes, and last night was my last first night out on the town with my friends.  It's to the point that you even think to yourself, "This is the last first load of laundry of the semester," which of course practically brings you to tears.  And, as ready as we may all be for the real world, each night the seniors across campus send up a collective prayer that the next day go a little slower than the one before.

The Never Ending Countdown to Thanksgiving

So it's Monday afternoon, most of my friends are home by now, or on their way, and I still have two meetings, two classes, a study session, and a quiz before I can gleefully proclaim that break has finally arrived.  My sister, who also attends a liberal arts college in the Northeast got a whole week off, so she has been home since last Friday.  When all I want to do is snuggle up on my couch with a good Disney princess movie, some hot chocolate, and maybe some of my mom's Christmas cookies, it sure is difficult to motivate myself.  I spent yesterday on a pink couch, taking notes for an approaching paper (that happens to be in the same class as the quiz.... yikes) and I am avoiding continuing said note-taking with this post.  But I'm wondering:  When did Thanksgiving Break turn into Thanksgiving Study Hall?  Why do I feel like I am practically being assigned work to finish during what is supposed to be my vacation? 

And So the Snow Begins.

What would November at Colgate be without at least one good snow storm?  I woke up early this morning totally surprised by the scene outside my window.  Even now, the snow is continuing to fall and I'm sure that by the afternoon it will be prime-snowman-making-time.  Snow always makes me think of certain Colgate memories.  My first-year, I remember making the long walk up the Persson steps after a night downtown, or the snow ball fight my friends dragged me outdoors for at midnight.  I also think of hockey games (Go Raiders!) and slipping on the ice.  Probably my favorite memory is from last year's snow season.  Sitting on a couch, trying to write a paper, you often realize how important your friends are when they force you to take a ten minute break for a dance party in the living room. 

The college blues

It's late autumn, everything is going fabulously and BAM!  You have your first cold of the season.  Oh, you knew it was coming.  As the air starts to get colder the windows stay closed more often, no one feels like cleaning up their own mess, and germs spread faster than the news that Parkside is burning down. 

(Yes, we recently lost a much loved Colgate dining experience.  Perhaps we are all getting sick because our immune systems are suffering from the lack of fried mozzerella sticks.  But anyways...)

You look around, and your mom is no where to be found, you are out of cough syrup, and the pile of crumpled up tissues grows higher as the days go by.  When you finally drag yourself to the health center, they shake their heads knowingly and hand you a bottle of some kind of antibiotic.  You'll feel better soon... you just hope that by then the stack of neglected work isn't higher than your discarded tissues.   

Halloween in Hamilton

Halloween.  A time when all the crazies come out of the wood work.  And no where do people get crazier than in college.  If you really want to be entertained, just take a night or two to observe a campus population during Halloween week (yes, here at college Halloween constitutes an entire week).  You could see anything. 

October What?

I looked at my calendar today and realized that it is the end of October.  Midterms are practically over and the semester is more than half over.  I realize that I do NOT want the semester to end.  I wish I had one of those remote controls that can slow down time.