While the semester is starting to wind down, the life of a senior is ever full of all sort of stress, mental breakdowns, and tears. If you know a college senior, they are pretty recognizable by the blank stare, constantly running their hand through hair, or looking like they are ready to murder someone, please be kind to them for the struggle is real. Here are somethings that are going through a colloege senior's head right now.
1. Thesis
If this statement isn't true, I don't know what is. Here at Wells, all seniors are required to either write a thesis or do some involved project that is basically just as much work as writing a thesis. For those who may not know, generally a written thesis is about 20-30 pages long. For the arts or some of the others majors it is a service project or art project instead of a paper. While you can choose what to write or design for your thesis, it's still very stressful and a lot of work. Usually a senior dies by the time it is finished.
2. Homework
On top of writing your thesis, you also have a whole bunch of readings and assignments that you have to do. It's like your professors want to see how much they can give you until you explode. As an English major, I find this especially true because having two literature classes and two creative writing classes, that's a lot of reading and writing, so I can only imagine what it's like for the other majors.
3. Grad School applications
Ah the dreaded personal statement. Not only are finding graduate schools that you want to go to hard, but then you have to worry about application deadlines and the GRE. And some graduate schools have really early deadlines, so make sure that you look into when the applications for your program is due. Also, not all programs require the GRE so make sure you check before you waste money on the test.
4.Finding a job in your field
So for those of us seniors who are either not going to grad school (me) or working while going to grad school, something that is constantly on our mind is how we are going to get a job in our field of study. For Science, Math, and even maybe Education majors this is a little simpler, but for us English, History, and Theater majors, we're screwed. And, no matter what field you study, this meme is bound to ring true. So many jobs rely on your previous experience, but how are you supposed to have experience if you don't get experience? This is where internships are so important, so choose them wisely.
5. The idea of adulting in general
While this is still six months away, the prospect of having to provide and make decisions for myself is kind of scary. This goes along with the whole having to find a job issue: if I can't find a job, I can't support myself. Also, for someone who is really shy and the reality of having to deal with strangers for the rest of my life is kind of scary to me. I know it is inevitable, but I like having my mom make my doctor's appointments for me.
6. How to say goodbye
While Wells definitely isn't perfect, it has been my home for four years and in that four years I have grown so much as a person. Every time we have an annual college event, I cannot help thinking, this is my last one. I have met some of the most special people to me here, and facing the reality of having to say goodbye to them is kind of heartbreaking. I like to tell myself that it's not a goodbye, it's a see you later. While there are six more months until graduation, I cannot help appreciating every precious moment I have left here.
