J-Term Comes to a Close

My month of intensive Latin has finally come to a close now that I have taken my final, and it will soon be time to have a normal schedule again.  Most people I know say that it went by quickly, but I feel like it lasted long enough--maybe it was because I had a three-hour block of class every day of the week.  Such a routine seems to stretch the dimensions of time quite a bit.  While in a way it was refreshing to be able to focus on only one class for a month, I am more than ready to try juggling four again.  So, in a moment of reflection, here are some things I will miss about J-term, and some things that I won't miss.

Things I will miss:

• The lovely wintry atmosphere and newly fallen snow.
• Having class in close proximity to Sama's Coffee every day.
• Not caring how little sleep I got (sometimes).
• Skiing once.
• The new and improved social scene.

Things I will not miss:

• Having a three-hour class every day.
• Feeling like I'm in Groundhog's Day every day of the week.
• Walking to Twilight Hall every morning through the snow.
• Doing translations instead of playing in the snow.
• Fire drills in sub-zero temperatures.
• Listening to people brag about having class only three days a week.

Before the spring term starts, I have a week-long break to look forward to.  Tomorrow morning, I'll be leaving for El Paso, Texas, to work in a shelter for immigrants over Feb break.  Gone are the endless days of fundraising, selling random items, trying to win a scavenger hunt for the $1,000 grand prize, and filling out pre-departure forms.  This trip is, in a sense, the light at the end of the tunnel for all of us who are going on it with MAlt (Middlebury Alternative Breaks).  And once I return, there will once again be four classes to juggle.  We'll see how that works out.