Helloooo, Mr. Morning…

Nothing like an early morning run to remind you how painfully out of shape you are. Ten minutes down Monticello Road I wondered how I had gone from a peaceful slumber to this sweating, aching, panting mess. I blame my new “get fit” mentality, to tell you the truth. Summer always tends to do that for me, ya know? Gets me thinking of ways in which I could improve my life. Inevitably, I always think ahead to the upcoming semester, and this summer has proven no different in that respect.

For one, I’m taking a class in the Wren building, which I couldn’t be more excited about. It’s an introductory class on Islam and is taught by one of the most popular professors here at The College. I’ve heard such amazing things about her!

On the professional side, if you will, I’ll be knee-deep in mock interviews, etiquette dinners, networking events, and job searches. I have yet to set foot in our school’s Career Center but I’ll probably be spending most of my time there. If my Freshmen residents can’t find me, they should probably check there first.

On the social side, I can only hope to spend as much time as possible with all of my friends. Afterall, it’s my last year at William & Mary, and once I’m out of here, it’s going to be hard to see everyone as often. Summer vacation has given me a little taste of what the real world is going to be like. Not only have I been traveling, but it seems as though all of my friends are all over the place as well. Julianne is in Senegal, Kristal AND Lauren are in California, Katy is in Pennsylvania, Kelly is in Connecticut, and while she’s back now, Vanessa was all over Europe for six weeks. Sometimes I feel as though life is just speeding by me and I wish I could pull everything to a screeching halt. These are supposedly the best years of my life, and I have seen first hand why they refer to them as such…I’m just not sure I’m ready for these years to be over.

As rising seniors, in both high school and college, I think it’s important for us all to be thinking about the year ahead. Whether we’re considering how to approach our classes, the amount of time we’ll put into studying, which clubs and organizations to devote more time to or even drop, and what color dress to get for Prom (or “King and Queens” in my case), remember to keep things in perspective. This is an important time in our lives. Work hard, but take some time to slow down once in awhile too. In the words of Trace Adkins…

“You’re gonna’ miss this, you’re going to want this back. You’re going to wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look around. You may not know it now, but you’re gonna’ miss this.”