Ode To Finals Week

I know that it's sick, twisted, and more-than-slightly masochistic, but I really do miss AU Finals Week (yes, it deserves capitalization). My Swedish final, the only test I've taken since October, was last night, and when I walked out of the exam hall having officially completed my first semester abroad, something didn't feel right. One of the best feelings I've ever experienced was the day I came home from the Fall 2009 semester. The three weeks before that had been a blur of 60-hour benders in Bender, my body completely exhausted from a grueling schedule that mandated that coffee be substituted for sleep. I finished my final 25-page paper at 3 AM, having been in the library since the morning before, came back to the dorms, packed, slept for three hours, went to my internship, and then finally at 5 PM, left for Union Station. When I finally sat down on the train, I felt a physical, tangible relief. The stress and pressure and sleeplessness and hysteria and the panicking and inevitable craziness of Finals Week is satisfying only in the contrast afterwards. It's massively rewarding when you've worked so hard and pushed your body to the edge and logged countless hours in the library and then made it out alive with a solid GPA to show for it. Here, there was none of that. I'm not complaining about having next to no work while abroad, but after the exam, there was little catharsis. I had spent one night on a three-page paper, the next morning studying for an exam that wouldn't even count for a grade at home. I didn't feel like I needed to pass out or cry or party, because post-finals life was exactly like pre-finals life. It's very much a Big Yellow Taxi situation, but I want to sit in a cubicle for days straight with a stack of books so heavy it breaks my tote bags and bark at anyone who dares to text me about getting dinner at TDR because how can I eat when I've just thrown up again?????

Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm a Bender Library addict.

It's 5 AM. Do you know where your children are? (Hint: With Janet)