Dear Seniors,

Last Tuesday, as I was sitting in my final English course of my college career, I had a brief moment of panic. I suddenly realized I forgot to take the Children’s Literature course.

I have been meaning to take this course for the past two years or so. Semesters have come and gone and I have chosen, for no apparent reason, other classes to fulfill my graduation requirements.

This week I began my last semester at Calvin. My last five classes, and none of them include Children’s Literature.

If you are graduating this semester, you are bound to experience many “lasts.” You will make your last sem. pond jump, go to your last airband and participate in dance guild for the last time.

As I look ahead to all these lasts, I see two attitudes of mine beginning to wrestle with one another. The first is of apathy. Put lightly, I am burnt out. I am tired of daily readings and term papers, first days and presentations. Everyday assignments and tasks that were so exciting to my first-year self now seem mundane.

The second attitude I posses is that of sentimentalism. I find myself holding onto the norms and traditions I have established. I find myself actively trying to savor my time with friends. I try to take in every moment of Chimes and I sometimes find myself missing the dining halls and dorms (which I honestly never thought would happen).

I am going to make a leap and assume that other seniors possess similar attitudes. This mix is natural, I suppose. Our current apathy will allow us to look forward to new experiences, and our sentimentalism will keep us living in the present.

We are in an awkward in-between right now. We are not quite out in the “real world” but no longer completely grounded in Calvin.

Through all of these attitudes, emotions and thoughts, I encourage myself and other seniors to simply pay attention: to not overlook these moments and to savor our last semester. It will be over before we know it, and we may someday wonder how it slipped away so quickly.