At the time of this writing, there are only three more weeks left in my first semester as a college junior. This is, to say the least, the most stressful time for any college student, as for many (like myself) this is where most of the projects/exams/essays are due, many of said assignments make up a majority of the grade for a class. On one hand, this time of year represents the most painful part of the semester, as any and all free time is tossed out the window in favor of schoolwork and studying. From another perspective, this represents the final stretch of a semester, and what once seemed like a never-ending cycle of work will finally be at an end (for a month at least). And yet, from my perspective (and I’m sure many others) it also represents coming one step closer to the end of my college career, and one step closer to the “real world” everyone says is so horrible.

This may come as a shock to anyone who has read any of my previous pieces (read: sarcastically), but I was never really a fan of school when I was younger; I always hated that it ate up all of your free time over subjects that someone might not even care about. I hated the disruptive environment, the groups (or cliques) that came together and spread their obnoxiousness around like a virus, and the emphasis on grading rather then teaching and learning for teaching and learning’s sake. Now, this wasn’t always the case, because I did have plenty of professors and teachers who made learning fun and enjoyable, and ensured that each class was a place to be open and express yourself however you wanted to. Being in college, though some things have improved drastically, such as professors taking a more “learn it if you love it or leave it if you don’t” approach, and less emphasis on cliques due to the large campus, school work does still take up a huge chunk of my time. So why do I love it? FREE TIME, and LOTS of it that gives me a chance to take care of school work and, I don’t know, live my life or something. During my time at college, I made plenty of new friends, and went on plenty of crazy adventures going to different places. Whether it was as simple as going to the mall, or as epic as Comic-Con, I’ve had and made some of the best experiences and memories of my life. So where does the "bittersweet” part of the title come in?

Well, with every semester as I mentioned before, it’s essentially a countdown to the end of my college career. In my mind, this means less time to go on these adventures, less time to socialize, or do any of the things that I enjoy doing. I know that life still goes on, and that there’s plenty of time to enjoy myself when I’m an adult, but I know that after college, it will revolve heavily around responsibility and work (and a combo of both). Sometimes I take being this age for granted; I have no real heavy responsibilities like paying a mortgage or bills, yet I can still go out and have fun on my own with no real supervision. I’m old enough to take on a good amount of responsibility, and have plenty of time to deal with whatever comes my way. Yet, every semester, the clock ticks one second more.

Despite this, there are still three more semesters to go before I’m done, and even though I know once it’s over it’ll seem like a short time has passed, I intend to enjoy each and every second while I’m still living it.