Three Down…One to Go

Samantha Strub

(June, 2012) Three years down…one to go. How is this possible? Where did the time go? I’m a senior? In a year I’m going to be finished with undergraduate classes and be on my way into my career.

Moving into my final year has been a bittersweet experience. I’m grateful that I will be completing college and starting as a language arts teacher. I’m excited and nervous to be embarking on my internship in the fall, when I will be teaching in a classroom full time. In the back of my mind, however, I feel sad that soon I will no longer be on this wonderful mountain I have called home for the past years. There are so many memories and experiences that I have had at the Mount that I’m not sure if I’m ready to let go.

This past year has been one of the best. Being an upperclassman comes with its perks, and my junior year has been unforgettable. There have been so many wonderful memories, sometimes associated with schoolwork and sometimes not. There have been many crazy, silly moments and quite a few sleepless nights due to mountains of schoolwork and to simply living out the college lifestyle with friends.

Most of our nights were spent doing homework or working. Even though we were studying, my friends and I still have countless memories of having fun until the early hours of the morning, working on general homework as well as big projects, papers and portfolios. During these intense homework nights we were trying to focus but continually got distracted by funny things like socks which would turn into inside jokes, such as "Socks are for your feet, silly!" When these jokes came out, we were on the floor laughing instead of getting work done. The inside jokes grew as the semester went on and my two friends Kristyn and Amanda and I came up with a solution to the homework and lesson-plan dilemma. We made half-hour or hour-long goals of things that we wanted to accomplish within that time frame. It became somewhat of a competition between us to see who reached her goal first. These sticky-note goals worked wonders for keeping us on task and focused on our work. Even though we were doing homework, we still made those late nights enjoyable and memorable.

Living in the apartments on campus compared to the dorms that we were used to was a new, upperclassman adventure too. There is more space, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you will always get along. Being free to have your own bathroom that you share with your closest friends is a nice change from the communal bathrooms that freshmen and sophomores have to share with a hall of at least thirty people. There have been times when two or three people wanted to take a shower at the same time, but then you compromise and work out a schedule of when each of you will shower so everyone is happy. With my insane schedule this year, it has been a lifesaver to be able to cook in my own kitchen. Though somewhat small with a very old stove, that kitchen has been incredible this semester. I was always getting home so late either from work or practice that I missed the regular dinner time. Being able to cook something simple or eat leftovers was such a relief and I ended up saving money.

Some of my most treasured memories from this past year are when my roommates and I had cooking and baking parties on the weekends. We cooked a huge meal, invited our friends over and had a feast. We always ended up cooking some sort of pasta dish, chicken, spaghetti and meatballs, garlic bread, and salad. We had to invite our other friends over to help us eat the mountainous meal that we created. The guys especially were always grateful and would help us clean up and promised a cookout when they would supply the meal. I’d say that is a pretty fair trade, don’t you think?

The times when the guys repaid us with the burgers and hot dogs that they promised were always relaxing. The guys cooked and the girls lay out in the sun while either reading or doing homework. The burgers and hot dogs were always delicious, and the best part was the guys cleaned up as well while we lay there watching them. The guys also surprised us by making us a late breakfast/early lunch one weekend. We had a delicious brunch of pancakes and sausage. However, they ended up burning the pancakes so I had to take over because they were not making pancakes correctly, but it’s the thought that counts, right? The pancakes were saved before all of them were burnt; more batter was made, and we still turned out a feast. That was a wonderful and delicious way to start out our morning and our weekend.

The sweetness of baking days always outdid the cooking—well, once we got the hang of the oven and stopped burning the brownies. Do not laugh--that oven is not like the ones that we have at home, as it is much older, and it took some time to get used to. By the end of the semester we had the oven down to a science, but until then it took a little while to become friends with it. Needless to say, the apartment was meant to be full of savory smells, but those scents held off until we got a handle on the oven. Once that was accomplished, the burnt odor went away, and delicious smells of cookies, cakes and brownies replaced them.

Having been so busy the past two semesters, I’m not sure what to do with myself. I have this thing called free time. I do not know what that is anymore. What am I supposed to do with myself? Soon, I will have that question answered for me as I move into my senior year, begin my internship and finish my undergraduate classes; right now, though, I’m still struck with the fact that I have nothing that I really have to do. It is weird, but I’ll definitely get in much-needed reading time as well as time to hang out with my friends.

The up-coming year always seems to be in the back of my mind. I’m now a senior. I’m in my last year. It is time to make even more memories that will last a lifetime as well as making sure I’m studying my hardest. I need to make a bucket list for my senior year; it is going to have to be an amazing year, which will happen if my friends have anything to say about it. I know that it will be challenging, especially with my internship, but I have decided that I’m ready for the challenge. So, here goes nothing.

Bring it on, senior year!

Read past editions of Samantha Strub's Four Years at the Mount