I know we all have worries, but those of a second semester
senior are 100% more imminent, and how shall I put this… legit. As everyone
is one semester closer to graduation, and second semester seniors have a
countdown clock of doom, I thought I would compile a list of all the things we
have to look forward to.

1.
How Much Partying is Too Much?

I’m getting older. I can feel it.
And you know what really feels it? All of the muscles I somehow am completely
able to move while intoxicated and which the next morning regret my attempt to
dougie the previous night. But perhaps more importantly, my conscience feels it
when I am too tired/lazy/can’t be bothered the morning after to go to class. I
want to have fun as a second semester senior, but I also want my second
semester senior year to be just that: one semester. I’d like to be able to
graduate, and that (surprisingly?) involves going to class. I am currently in
search of a happy medium, which is a time-consuming concern, you skeptics.

2.
What’s a WI Again?

Yes, there comes a time when you
will have to know what these pesky acronyms stand for, and at that point it is
too late to take Exposition and you’re stuck with a course like Current
Macroeconomic Issues because it’s the only thing that will fit in your schedule,
and obviously taking classes on Fridays is never gonna happen. Oh, why did I
not pay attention to my requirements the other seven semesters I have been a student? If you are like me and have
at least three requirements to fulfill before you can snag a diploma, be
thankful that you are at least aware of what they are.

3.
To Thesis, or Not to Thesis?

Writing a thesis can be an
intellectually rewarding experience that can somewhat justify your academic
worth, and I will never be completing it. It was a tough call, guys, it really
was, but I couldn’t get myself to commit to the agony that would have been my
senior year experience. There are plenty of people for whom writing a thesis is
a meaningful personal accomplishment (read: graduating with honors), but I
could not get past the “I don’t have anything to write about” stage. Although I
am, in the end, very satisfied with my choice, I can’t help but feel useless
compared to my classmates who actually have something to show for the money it
takes to purchase a beautiful home in Western Pennsylvania.

4.
Where are All My Friends?

One of the hardest parts about
senior year, the part that adds the sadness to mix with the excitement of
finishing and the terror of potentially having to live in a cardboard box, is
the fact that you will finally be moving on to the next chapter of your life, potentially
without the friends you have spent the past four years with. You have spent
four of the best years of your life with people who will now be peppered all
over the country doing various jobs or taking on demoralizing unpaid
internships with the hope of a stable job at the end of the tunnel. This is why
you should be like me and screw them all to take a year off to teach English
abroad. At least I’m the one that’s doing the leaving.