The end of the semester brings with it more than just finals week. Since college is more broken into semesters than school years, it’s the next checkpoint along the road of our education.
For some of us, it’s the end of a term in a position. For others it’s the end of being undeclared. Whatever it is that you are leaving behind with this semester, it’s important to look back and recognize what you have done and in what ways you have changed.
For someone like me, it is the end of my junior year at Maryland. While I can’t wait to go abroad and see what the world has to offer, next week will be a bitter-sweet goodbye.
Goodbye to the house that I have lived in for the past year and a half, and to the girls who taught me and my friends what it meant to “get it.” Goodbye to being a titled leader. Goodbye to not having to worry about the real world, and to not being the oldest on campus.
The list goes on and on with a range of different things that are coming to a close. I challenge you to make a list of your own. But on that list include the hellos that will come with next semester. New classes, new roles, new faces, new cultures and new countries.
The end of first semester is also when we figure out what we are going to do this summer. That can be as easy as deciding to go back to work at your camp, or as hard as applying for an internship. My advice: start early! As it gets closer to January and February, it becomes harder to get an internship. Getting your name and resume out there as early as possible gives you a better chance at being considered first for a position.
Don’t let yourself get too anxious about that, but keep it at the back of your mind while you make your winter to-do list.
Like I said before, it’s important to celebrate your accomplishments. Look back at the semester and make a list of everything you did. Whether you held a position of leadership in a Greek chapter, or were the editor in chief of a publication, or a member of a club, you got something done somewhere. Think about how those things made you grow and what you learned from them. Those skills will help you next semester, and every semester after that. We learn more at school than just what we learn in our classrooms, so take a moment to appreciate that.
So, while you’re feeling the anxiety and pressure of the end of the semester, keep in mind that it’s just part of the cycle. It will come and go quickly and then you will have new things to think (and worry) about.
