29 Days Left

Okay, so yesterday I decided to/made the mistake of counting how many days we have left in the quarter. Then I made a list of all the papers/projects/tests that I will end up completing before I turn in my last final. Want to see how crazy it is?

Over the next 29 days (21 of which contain some version of class) I will do the following things: 

• English Final
• Morphology and Syntax Paper
• Morphology and Syntax Wikipedia Project
• Capítulo 14 examen (Chapter 14 test)
• Capítulo 15 examen (I trust you to figure it out)
• Advising labs
• ASA Final

Suffice it to say that 19 credits is treating me about as well as I had expected: rudely. I'm finally hitting that point in my life when I don't want my life to be revolving around school anymore. Admittedly, that's a bit scary because (like most Western society 20 year olds), I can barely remember a time when my life wasn't dictated by what was happening at school.
But that also drives my curiosity to find out what in the world the world is like when I'm not always thinking about this or that assignment that I have to get done for this or that class. What is the like to go on a trip during the fall but not over Thanksgiving weekend? What is it like to wake up on a Saturday morning and ask yourself what needs to be done around your house before thinking about your homework? Honestly, what is it like to not have homework? What is it like to be working full time and being able to use (most) of that paycheck to fuel my hobbies? What hobbies will I discover when I have the time and energy to explore?
This myriad of questions is just a sampling of the barrage in my head. The point of all of them, though, is that schools is not the end-all-be-all I've been taught to think of it as. This is to say that school has been a big deal all of my life. And I'm smart so getting good grades was more fun than not, doing my homework was better than not, and paying attention in class ensured that teachers didn't scold me in front of everyone. Looking back, I don't actually know how I got through middle and high school. I had a huge list of extracurriculars and still managed to graduate with honors. I know that's not going to happen in college because I've been slowly coming to the realization that getting straights As isn't what I was made to do or should be doing or should be worried about doing. Honestly, I am much more interested in sorting out the social whirlwind I tend to find myself in. Knocking over some of those dominoes will have an affect; maybe it'll be good, maybe it'll be bad but something will happen. Contrast that with studying the word and sentence structure of Native American languages.
Sidebar: That is not to say that I think studying Native American language isn't valuable or worth the time. It's just not what I want to do with my time.
I'm just saying that figuring out my social whirlwind currently feels more valuable to me than spending 19 hours a week sitting about in class. My fingers are super crossed that taking fewer credits for the rest of my college career will help balance out this feeling of "I am so ready to get out of here". And, for those moments when my social life is progressing on a happy and linear path, I would still much rather be spending my time working on my writing endeavors, reading new books, crocheting as many things as I have yarn for, and watching all of my TV shows.
Devoting this much energy to school is taxing and I am so ready for a time in my life when I can devote all of my energy to something besides assigned reading and paper writing.
Here's hoping the rest of this quarter treats me kindly.