It happened two weeks ago. I was sitting at my computer during the wee hours of the night, attempting to write a paper based on some book I had barely skimmed through. With a freshly brewed cup of coffee in hand, a Moby CD blaring through my headphones and less than seven hours to both start and finish something worthy of a passing grade, I realized something great.
This was the last paper I had to write during my college career.
I was actually going to graduate, and the thought caught me totally off guard. I couldn’t help but remember all the other times I had been sitting at my desk doing this same thing — procrastinating until the last minute and finding anything else to occupy my time instead of just buckling down and getting my work done. I was thinking of the hundred other things I’d rather be doing at 2 a.m. on a Wednesday night — pounding beers at Max’s, catching a late-night flick at the Bijou, playing guitar until my fingers hurt. Hey, at that point I would have even settled for cleaning my room or watching the Juiceman Juicer infomercial again.
But instead of becoming immediately overjoyed with happiness, these thoughts made me nostalgic. All of you seniors out there know what I’m talking about, right? It’s the feeling you get when you realize everything about the past four years of your life is going to change. It’s the feeling you get when you watch everyone pick up the fall 2001 class schedule at the bookstore and realize you can spend your quarters on parking meters instead. It’s the feeling you get when you discover you’ll actually have to pay to see Duck football and basketball games next season.
Don’t get me wrong. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to graduate. I’m counting down the days like a 6-year-old the week before Christmas. I get jittery just thinking about walking across the stage at the commencement ceremony. But graduating from college means more to me than just receiving a diploma for all the work I’ve done (or maybe I should say should have done). I’m graduating with many great memories, too.
I’ll always remember meeting my dorm roommate for the first time with relief that she wasn’t from Hicksville and didn’t listen to death metal. I’ll remember eating my first meal in the Carson cafeteria and wondering how on earth I would survive on Lucky Charms and cheese quesadillas all year. I’ll remember fleeing out the backdoor at house parties with my friends to avoid encounters with the Eugene Police Department. I’ll remember the countless sunny afternoons spent sitting on the porch at Taylor’s and Rennie’s Landing. I’ll remember the football games, camping trips, hikes up Spencers Butte, the drives to Portland in the middle of the week just to hear good live music. I’ll even remember a few classes and professors, although I think those will be the first to flee my memory bank.
My time here at the Emerald as online editor will be something I’ll always value. You may not know me, or know what I do, but I have a feeling that you’ll want to pay close attention if you’re graduating and leaving Eugene. Why? Because I’ve spent more time this past year working on the Emerald’s Web site (www.dailyemerald.com) than I have doing homework — and few people may realize this, but the online edition of the Emerald is a great resource for campus and community news. That’s right, the Emerald is actually good for more than the crossword puzzle during a boring lecture. For me, it’s also been a place where I’ve gained incredible job experience in the journalism field, discovered every nook and cranny in the EMU, and found a new group of suckers to drink with.
So in a way, writing that last paper turned out to be a blessing in disguise, even if it’s turned me into a sappy, nostalgic graduating senior.
Carol Rink is the online editor for the Oregon Daily Emerald. Her views do not necessarily reflect those of the Emerald. She can be reached at [email protected].