By Joe Bridgeman
My final class as a junior at Baylor has come to a close. Then, after a week of finals, those class grades too will be sealed, and my junior year will finally be complete. It’s a bittersweet moment. Sweet, because I have accomplished much this year and learned a whole lot because of the hard work I put into my classes. Bitter, because school is so much fun, and I’ve got only one year left.
I am grateful, though, for the time I have had so far. One of the things I hated hearing before coming to college was “It’s going to be the best four years of your life! It’s going to fly by so fast.” I was excited about the “It’s going to be the best four years of your life” part but a little disappointed to hear the “It’s going to fly by so fast” part. Unfortunately, it’s true. I feel like I’ve sufficiently taken hold of and appreciated the time I’ve had at Baylor so far, and I’m even more intent to do so now that I only have one year left.
I mean, how cool is it to get to spend four years of your life just learning as your full-time job? Trust me – you may not jump for joy right now over that idea, but we’ll both look back fondly at college from the workforce. I get to take top classes on whatever subjects I want and switch them out every three months for new ones. In some jobs, your best hope at an educational experience is either being sent to a conference or self-education.
What is the take away here? Don’t let yourself grumble about college. Everyone has difficult tests, too much homework and too little sleep – which is good, because everyone understands the struggle. But, be sure to not get stuck focusing on the struggles or you’ll miss the view as the years fly by. And trust me, the view is worth it.
Here’s to the next one.
We set off for Austin early on a Saturday morning. After about an hour and a half of driving, we arrived at our first destination: the Sherwood Forest Faire. Turns out that this place is one of the largest medieval villages around with more than 100 permanent structures. I definitely felt transported back in time as I walked around and was heckled by shopkeepers and gypsies. I had to exercise the utmost self-control to not purchase a whole set of hard leather armor and a large sword. Oh, and we had a lunch feast in a castle. That was different.
After the feast, we waddled out of the village to go sample some more of Austin proper. This included inspecting the antiques inside a shop on south Congress Avenue, gawking at the capitol building, strolling through Zilker Park and watching the sunset on the edge of a cliff overlooking the river, the Austin city skyline and the rolling green hills surrounding the city. Yeah, such a place exists!
Meet Roswell. He is a white rattus norvegicus (Norway rat) provided by Baylor for the lab. You and a lab partner trade off and show up every other day of the week (so together someone is there every day of the week). Even though you’re “sharing” a rat with one other, you are solely responsible for the rat and training it the day you have lab. You share the day’s lab data and activities with your lab partner, so that the rat has an overall consistent experience with both lab partners.
A few days ago in the early evening, it started snowing. It started as a light rain coupled with 30 degree temperatures and a harsh wind. Then as the sun continued to set, the light rain became little balls of hail. Then the little balls of hail became snow flurries, and by dinnertime, it was just flat out snowing. We were ecstatic. A roommate of mine had never even seen snow before! We went to sleep smiling and dreaming about all the fun things we would do the next day when school was inevitably canceled. And then, this email comes waltzing into our inboxes at 5:52am: “University Open Today”. Sad face. I may still have to go to class, but I’ll be humming a few Christmas songs throughout the day just hoping for that one snow day to come along.
