The College Discovery Channel

By Luci Farrell

The end of a semester marks panic, joy, delirium, and exhaustion. Time either crawls or flies by before you realize what day it is. Personally, I love it when first semester is done. For some reason the Fall semester is always the semester where I find myself wistfully looking at my schedule for Spring semester. The long weekends, the open Wednesdays, and the time I need to work and sleep. As a senior, those words are the most beautiful thing in the world after “I’m graduating…with a job waiting.”

When I mentioned delirium I should elaborate. The mind, when coming to a point of burnout, tries to find humor in everything. In my mind, I have transformed SXU into a Discovery Channel special. Like a college version of the discovery channel one can sit by the window of a local Starbucks and observe the local residents. Students coming back from finals are usually walking at a pace no faster than a zombie shuffle. Then, BAM! Three students sprint like gazelles toward the ward building. You look at your watch. No, they couldn’t possibly be late for a final; they must be on their way to fight for room in the library. Think of it as the watering hole. All the students fight for a place in the library, staring others down and even flitting through the bookshelves just waiting. The normal watering hole, the diner, seems rather vacant. Unless you count the scavengers. These are the students left with no money on their cougar cards that prowl around looking for anyone to feed off of (figuratively of course).

This carefully observer braved the dark for her caffeine fix and holds witness to the owls. Now there are two different sets of owls. The first set can be seen perched in the link between Rubloff Hall and McCarthy Hall. This walkthrough is furnished with chairs and students pressed against the windows weary of studying. The other set are those who have taken full advantage of the extended library hours during finals. These are the students you see (many times with nursing books) coming back from the library just after 2 a.m. Their eyes are wide and little melodies escape their lips. Only the close observer notices that these magical sounds are actually the names of diseases and medications.

Yet, once Friday hits one can almost imagine the tumbleweed blissfully rolling through the quad. Between the students that have already left and those who tore off campus after their last final, only a few are left making sure everything is left behind in good condition. For a short month there is quiet and piece. Then, a short month later this all begins again.

Until then dear readers, stay safe, study to the best of your abilities, and have a happy and safe holiday break.

Keep Calm and Study On

Luci Farrell is a senior from New Haven, CT. She is an Organizational Communication major with a minor in Anthropology. Luci is a Resident Peer Minister on campus and chair of the Honors Program Advisory Council at Saint Xavier University.