The New Year

Jennifer A

September 29, 2011 - 12:07 PM

I think it is strange when January rolls around and everyone makes ‘New Year Resolutions'. Who's life really is marked by January 1? It is all about Fall, September; The real new year.

Even though I am in my last year of college I know this extends outwards. Why? I think it has to do with the weather change. Summer to Fall is the most profound change and easiest to tell when the change starts. By the time January hits, we are already freezing. Besides having to buy a new calendar and retrain our minds to write a new number on our checks, whats different? Nothing really. Fall is a whole new ball game. We have a new season of sports, all sorts of kids go back to school and vacations end at work. September brings a crisp sense of new beginnings, not January.

So what does this new year mean for me? It is the brink of my last year of a formalized education. I am ending an era of my life of all I have ever known. Monday through Friday, September through June, I go to school at 8:00 a.m. and end in the evening. I do my homework, extracurricular activities and hang out with my organized group of friends. All of this, all that I have ever known will be shifted. My world will be my own to mold. And this new year for me will determine, in some part, how I will shape it.

With my last year of my college career at the University of Oregon I am still focused on my grades. Not because I think getting an A- over a B+ will get me a job. I am determined because I believe in finishing my projects. I believe that the way you end something is more important than how you begun. I know that quitters never win and I cannot respect someone who gives up on anything, especially themselves. Taking just a few classes and having all of them be pass/no pass seems like a copout to me. Not trying all the way through my senior year seems like running 7/8 if a mile and walking the last part. Besides continuing to do well in school, I also have a more relaxed goal.

Believe it or not, I want to have fun. Before I enter the ‘real world' I want to not work on Friday's, eat a balanced diet of Rennie's and Ramen and take a road trip with not enough money and too many people. I want to go to a concert the night before a midterm and have a drink with my teacher after finals. I want to always buy the cheaper option and use the excuse "It's ok, I am a college student." My senior year is about hard work yes, but just as much play as well. I will keep you posted on how they both go.