Finals' Week

This week marks the end of the semester. We go home this week! While there is so much to look forward to in going home, most of us know that if we begin to look forward too much to what is to come, we will lose all focus and motivation for the here and now. Ah, the ambivalence of finals' week.

Most people hate finals' week. Extroverts retreat to the library. Junk food supplies run low. Facebook has way more visitors than usual. Everyone is inventing new ways to procrastinate. Late nights, bleary eyes... clutching coffee to make sure the blood keeps flowing through our veins.

I, however, am a nerd. And in a strange way I enjoy finals' week. I like the library. I like synthesizing everything I've learned in a class and applying it in a practical way. I love being an elementary education major during finals' week... I get to make useful projects instead of cramming for exams and memorizing lists and definitions. I get to make lesson plans and activities. I get to waive finals if I do well enough on my projects. In some ways an exam would just be easier. It doesn't consume as much of my time. But in the end, the projects stick with me far better than any multiple choice answer.

Everything is funnier during finals' week. An adventure off campus during finals' week is bound to end in more giggles and memories than any other time of year. Hot chocolate tastes infinitely better than usual. Conversations with friends go deeper. Movies are so much more entertaining. Pandora is my constant companion. Things I haven't thought about doing in years suddenly make my to-do list.

Perhaps it's procrastination. But perhaps it's just the fact that during finals, I get my joy in life back.

How ironic.

But I begin to realize the little joys of every day, of every week that make life that much more worth it. The joy of finishing a small task and checking it off my to-do list. The joy of procrastinating with a friend. The joy of finishing a huge project that has consumed my last two weeks, and that winds itself through my dreams. The joy of taking time to journal and process.

During the craziest time of the semester, I suddenly find myself at peace... filled with joy.