Summer Job and Internship Realizations:You’ve spent the summer working part time and slaving away at resume-padding internships, and your Gettysburg bubble has been popped for a long three months. You realize what the world has to offer after graduation and it’s not that Gettysburg Great. No more meal plans or declining dollars, but lots ramen because it’s what you can afford, not because you’re craving a sodium overload. No more ‘long’ ten-minute walks across campus to visit friends, instead you’re trying to figure how to visit your old roommate who is training for a job in freaking Atlanta, Georgia. The world outside of Gettysburg is terrifying. And we are not okay with it.
Refusing to accept it:At the beginning of senior year, you’re in a state of complete and utter confusion. You have no idea who anyone is at parties because you’re the oldest and all your senior friends from last year (yes, you still consider them the seniors) are M.I.A. You may know where the parties are going to be on the weekends and which bar to go to first on Thursday (only Mama’s after midnight!), but you really don’t know anything else, like where you might be this time next year. So, take a deep breath, and understand all 700-something seniors are feeling the exact same way.
Hanging out with your friends is the most important thing:At this point in your college experience, you’ve already made most of your friends. You either have a small group, a larger pack, or a collection of random friends you can tolerate. Now you sit back and watch all the First Years scramble to find people to walk around campus with. Gettysburg is cliquey, small schools are like that, but at this point you’re with your girls, and you don’t care what anyone else is doing. You’re over everyone else and their problems.
And speaking of drama…This year is going to be different, so you say. Mixer attire isn’t the most important decision of the weekend and what that sophomore girl said to that junior boy isn’t breaking news anymore. This year is all about you and your friends. You plan to cut out all excess drama (lol), and solely worry about your own problems, because, let’s be honest, how is getting into other people’s drama really going to benefit you?
Finding the easiest way out of the schedule we either messed up or planned too far ahead:Let’s face it; there are two types of classes you are taking your senior year. Ones that you have been putting off, like Bio 102, because you know they will be a nightmare, or classes that are simply filling your schedule so you can still be considered a student. Either way, you sit at the back of class, shove your syllabus into a folder, don’t buy your books at the bookstore because they are ridiculously expensive, and judge everyone who is already taking notes. It’s the first day, people, we won’t be tested on the syllabus or teacher introductions.
But there is some work you still have to do…Whether it’s your Senior Seminar for English or your Capstone for OMS, you’re going to have reading. And you’re going to have to do it because you have seven people in your class and it’s obvious if you don’t. So shh, roomie-who-didn’t-procrastinate, go pour me a glass of wine and I’ll join your dance party when I’m done. Also, we get it, Health Science majors, you have had internships and terrible labs for years, but everyone who isn’t a HS major is writing a thesis now, and yes we are going to complain.
And then comes the “real-person” work:Minus the four people who were already offered full time jobs after graduation, every one else is trying to figure out what to do for the rest of their lives. Well, what do you want to do? Honestly, I would like to have a job that is stress-free, busy, work-free and pays well. Who’s got an idea?
And rapid resume building:If your mother didn’t already tell you, don’t worry, Gettysburg will definitely bring it up. Apparently, it’s not too late to join every activity you should have joined as a First Year after realizing the “Activities and Community Service” section of your LinkedIn is incredibly sparse. Don’t worry, every club needs seniors to clog up their spaces just as much as you need to pad your resume. But again, it’s your senior year. Don’t join the Pre-Law club if you want to be a fashion blogger and hate everything about criminal justice. You’re going to regret every minute of it and waste what precious time you do have.
And all you want to do is go back to Europe:Over half of the students here study abroad for at least one semester. And odds are, you left the country your junior year, it was the best semester of your life, and now you’re back. Sorry, sweetheart, but that package-deal of living in Europe for the same cost of your tuition (including financial aid) is over. The next time you leave, you’re coming back for Alumni Weekend.
And you party like a First Year, using the excuse that you’re a senior:These are the weekends of your last fall semester. You make a toast to reign in your final year, and you toast again, and again. This may or may not (let’s be honest, will definitely) lead to shambly stumbles home; helping you once again realize your decision-making skills really haven’t changed much since junior, sophomore, or first year. Now we can just make the excuse that this is the last time DPS is our greatest enemy.
The Senior Sixteen…have we changed AT ALL?!You’ve survived the ‘Freshman 15’; whether you kept going with the weight gain, or worked your butt off to wear that neon geometric bikini again, it’s over. Either way, you’re back at school where bikinis are irrelevant and you’re going to eat what you want and be happy about it. And besides, the Pizza House number is already in your Favorites.
And the things we do for Nacho Bar…At this point, you know never to go to Servo from 12-12:30 p.m. unless you want to wade through a sea of people clipping your shoulder with stacked trays. Similarly, do not go to Bullet Hole from 6-7 p.m. on Tuesdays unless you want to get trampled by buff-chick fanatics. And don’t even think about going to Sunday Brunch at exactly 11:30 unless you want to wait in a line that is only acceptable for Thanksgiving Dinner. But, it’s Servo, and you’ve been thinking about the omelet station, Panini presses, and ravioli with lobster bisque all summer. So you will go, and you will roll your eyes as you make your third lap around the dining hall to find a seat, just because the Servo cookies are worth it.
And then it hits you…“You’ll blink and it’s over,” “It goes by all too fast.” This is what you’re told as a First Year, and yes, we get it. Thanks for proving it and giving us a big fat “I told you so.” College is only four years. As we’ve been told over and over, it ends, and there is nothing we can do about it. And after a little too much Wine Wednesday, you realize, that this is it. Here it is. So you might as well just enjoy the final ride.