 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…
