Final Thoughts on Leaving School
Undoubtedly the most stressful element of leaving school at the end of the semester is finishing up your exams, projects, and papers. But there are other obligations that also cannot be ignored. For example, all of the different groups have senior send-offs and banquets that you must attend. These are always fun, but they are just one extra thing that takes your time. I went to the Vanderbilt University Theatre banquet on Monday and it was a lot of fun. The event is coat-and-tie formal, which means we spend an hour before the actual banquet talking photos in front of Neely. This is always fun since you get to regroup as the casts of different shows, by grade level, etc. Once the photos are done, we go inside to eat Maggiano’s catering with the theatre faculty and watch a slideshow about the year’s productions and social events. Then a variety of awards are presented. This is always cool since it brings out the fact that VUT is both an academic department with professors we work with, and also an on-campus student organization. After that, each of the graduating seniors gives a speech that incorporates anecdotes about their time at Vandy, life advice, and whatever else they deem necessary. The night is always long—about five hours in duration this past Monday—but it is a lot of fun.
You also have to worry about packing up your dorm. If you’re an international student like me, this has the added dimension of deciding what to do with your stuff over the summer. I use Extra Space Storage, which has several locations near campus, is relatively cheap (particularly if you’re sharing a unit among several people), and is highly secure. There are other companies that also come to campus to help students in this endeavor such as UPS and Dorm Room Movers. There are a variety of options available on campus for storing your possessions, but just taking the time to do that can sometimes be tedious.
Similarly, I realized that as you are leaving campus you generally run a plethora of random errands up until the last minute you leave. Before I left campus on Wednesday morning, I had to run to the box office to pick up my paycheck, go to the post office to grab the last of my mail, return the books I rented from the bookstore and Chegg (which is an awesome company since they give you free shipping back and is one of the cheapest textbook renters I have seen). All of these errands are especially exhausting when you’re running on four or fewer hours of sleep, which tends to be a trend during dead week. The main thing to do during all this stress is to make sure you take care of yourself. If you are unable to sleep because of work, make sure to exercise and eat healthy and do all of the stereotypical advice you are given. It really helps, believe me! :)
This is officially my last blog post of the semester, but I will be keeping in touch with you guys this summer from Switzerland…so, until next time!