Winter Restlessness

Both December and January are glorious months. After the chaos of finals, the caffeine-wired, sleep-deprived W&M student body finally gets a much-deserved break for the winter holidays. It’s a time for sleeping in, eating mom’s home cooking, visiting old friends and family, and, of course, checking banner for final grades.

But after two weeks or so, I start getting an itch – an itch to get back to the grind of school, of extracurriculars, of something. And for better or worse, I think this same sense of restlessness plagues nearly every student at the college. After all, we are a driven bunch. For as much as W&M students complain about how busy they are during the semester, deep down, I suspect they relish their overstuffed agendas. The hard work is an immense source of satisfaction.

I’m particularly excited to return to school because I’ll be participating in the W&M in Washington Program next semester. And everything seems to be falling into place. The classes I’m enrolled in sound fascinating, I’ve secured an internship with the White House, and I’m moving into the apartment in Arlington later this week. The entire process of getting prepared for this semester has been remarkably smooth. I think this is in large part because of the wonderful staff in the W&M in Washington office, which has been there every step of the way. Over the past several months, they have worked closely with the entire spring 2010 class to ensure that we had access to the best internship opportunities, were prepared for interviews, and had a great place to live. In other words, they worked hard to alleviate any stress or doubt that students might have had coming into the program and in doing so, they have guaranteed that this will truly be an amazing and memorable semester.