I am shocked to say that I have just placed the finishing touches on my last week of classes as a college freshman. And what a hectic finish it was…
 A veritable blitzkrieg of papers and projects were due this week. Alas, my private secretary had failed to inform me that I had known about all of these assignments for several weeks. Thus, I found myself pulling three all-nighters this week, shackled to a computer desk surrounded by discarded Full Throttles (Coca-Cola’s answer to methamphetamines) and granola bars. I got everything in on time, but needless to say it was not pleasant.
 There was-at least for me- an elegiac atmosphere to my last week of regular classes. You really are a different person when you finish your first year of college. The combination of the different workload and the independence of living away from home and with a rommate, and beginning my ROTC training, had certainly created within me a new sense of maturity and responsibility. (Albeit, I and the freshmen class still have a lot of growing up to do, but that is neither here nor there, at least for this posting.) When I think of where I was in May of 2008 and where I am and what I’m doing in May of 2009, I truly see a world of difference.
  And now, I look forward to my finals next week. I shall update my dear readers as to my progress (or lack thereof) as next week progresses. For now, at least where Spanish is concerned, one is reminded of a Lord of the Rings-esque scene in which the armies of Light and Darkness face off on a CGI- manufactured landscape; I can only hope that I am with the armies of Light…
 This week I registered for my classes and housing for next year. I’m pleased to report that both went quite well.
  In terms of classes, I did far better than a lowly freshmen could normally hope. Class registration takes place in descending order, beginning with the rising seniors and ending with the incoming freshmen. In plain English, this means that the most popular courses are picked over like a three-day old wildebeest carcass by the time rising sophomores are allowed to start clicking away. (Sorry future Spiders, that’s the world we live in.)Â
 I’m trying to take care of my general education requirements as fast as I can, so I registered for both a science and mathematics course. To counteract that double-headed hydra, I secured a place in a course on Classical Greece as well as a course on the Enlightenment. I had somehow missed taking the second portion of the Library Skills class, so I registered for that as well.
  On the housing front, my friend and I really got a steal. I had a pretty good number in the housing lottery, and with that we were able to secure a solid double room in our dorm of choice. We have our own bathroom and shower, which will be an immeasurable change from this year. (Though next year, for nostalgia’s sake, I may occasionally wander into my old dorm just to relive the glory of communal bathing and stopped-up toilets…) I was also pleased that we aren’t housing in the new co-ed dorm next year. Paradoxical as that may sound, it’s very important to me to have a place where I can go about freely without concern to the upkeep of my personal appearance (or lack thereof).
  Last Friday, the UR’s Army ROTC Spider Battalion held its annual Military Ball. This is a night where we close out the year and say goodbye to our departing seniors and cadre members. It was a pleasant evening as official functions go. (There’s no dancing, as one might expect at a “ball”, but that’s the government for you.) I had a role in one of the skits that the cadets perform, which poke light fun at our instructors as well as each other. My role went over quite well, and I made it through the evening without using the wrong fork or breaking any fine china. It was a quaint end to a quite rewarding week.
