The beginning of the end

Today happened to mark the first day of fall semester - a very important semester - it being the last of my undergraduate career at BYU.  One would think that I would be incredibly excited to start school again because I'm so close to being done.  Unfortunately that wasn't the case.  I feel completely spent in terms of academics.  As I have been reminded a few times lately, I've been at BYU way too long - my first semester was Fall 2002.  Yes, go ahead and count, that means I've been at BYU for six years now (two study abroad programs and my mission accounted for part of that time though).  Remember that story about the seven year itch?  Definitely a different situation, but some similarities can be applied - I have the jitters to move on and start something new.  I woke up this morning without an ounce of "first day of school" excitement and I'm shocked that I somehow managed to survive 11 hours on campus without any.  After spending a ridiculous amount of money on books, my dismal mood was compounded by having to dodge hoards of students all over campus.  That's usually how it goes for the first three weeks of the semester - people are everywhere.  I can't really explain that phenomenon.  Midway through the semester and especially during finals, no one is outside socializing.  You have the class break crowds making their way to their next class, but not a lot of congregating occurs as it does at the beginning of the semester.  After making it to all the right buildings I sat in my classes and could hardly believe that I was pretty intrigued and excited about all of them.  What can I say?  Roman history, the Italian Renaissance, and Early Christian/Byzantine art are all pretty exciting in their own right.  I suppose that I actually do enjoy being a student at this fine institution of higher learning.  The best part of my day wasn't because of my classes, but actually from running into dear friends from 1) my mission 2) my study abroad to Vienna AND Jerusalem, as well as 3) a participant that I had three weeks ago at EFY.  Crazy!  Had I run into a former member of the SPAC dance team, it would have been a complete canvas of my college career, but unfortunately that didn't happen.  Although, I could walk down the quad at my apartment complex right now and knock on Marie Munson's door to fulfill that last requirement.  I think I might.  There's never a dull moment when Marie's around.  All in all it was a really good day.  It ended in the coolest room on campus which also happens to be the best kept secret on campus - the planetarium in the Eyring Science Center.  Amazing.  Looking at the stars has always been a favorite hobby of mine (especially if the activity is occurring on top of a houseboat at Lake Powell) and now I get to do it for an additional 2.5 hours per week and get credit for it!  How lucky am I?  Despite all my worries and anxiety at the thought of my research papers due this semester, the upcoming GRE as well as grad school applications, today dear friends, was a fantastic beginning of the end!