THE UNDENIABLE SIGNS THAT YOU ARE A SENIOR AT WOFFORD—
Being a senior is a lot of things. It’s exciting, exhausting, stressful and fun, nostalgia inducing and downright overwhelming. A lot is expected of us as exemplars of the Wofford student body. By now we are expected to have gotten a handle on the whole college thing and to take what we have learned and go out and change the world. A lot of the time being a senior feels like you’re a baby bird on the brink of being pushed out of the nest. On the one hand, (or wing, if you will) you’re ready to break out of the comfort and security of the Wofford “nest“ hopeful that you’ll fly into the future with great success. On the other hand, you’re terrified that you’ll plummet and splat right on the ground.
Recent conversations I’ve had with my friends and fellow seniors have given me the general consensus that we’re all in the same boat, and we are feeling all the feels when we think about what it means to be a senior and definitely when we think about the events of May 17, 2015.
The 10 undeniable signs that you’re a senior at Wofford
1. In the past week, you have been asked a minimum of 75 times, “So what are your plans for after graduation?” The answers are likely to be one of the following: “I’ve landed my dream job!” “I’m going to the best graduate school in the country on a full scholarship!” “I’m currently interviewing for a plethora of fabulous positions.” “I’m taking a year off to discover the world as well as myself.” “I have no idea.” Or, my personal favorite, “Ask me ONE MORE TIME and see what happens!”
2. The number of familiar faces on campus has decreased dramatically. You walk around campus and see what seems like hundreds of faces you swear you have never seen in your entire life. Seriously, who are these youths bouncing around campus? Don’t they realize it’s a MONDAY?! Why are they so excited to be heading to Burwell?
3. You find yourself driving to class and other spots inconveniently far from The Village. Because as seniors we’ve become lazy, and let’s be honest, who has the time or the energy to complete the seven-minute walk it takes to get from Phase III to the library. And if the weather is less than ideal, you can bet your bottom dollar traipsing through the rain to get to class is out of the question.
4. You jump with joy when someone mentions graduation! Until you think about it for too long… The idea of being released into the mysterious place people call the “real world” is liberating and exciting. You are confident that this four years of hard work known as college has prepared and qualified you for success in the real world! And then you quickly realize that you are in fact far more qualified for success on the Real World: Las Vegas spending your time researching for the perfect crop top and Googling ideas for a matching tramp stamp.
5. You find yourself saying “Remember when we were freshmen and…” As a senior, reminiscing becomes a recurring event. Especially about the days, many moons ago, when we were young, naïve, excited and overwhelmingly awkward freshmen. Remember when we were freshmen and we never slept but it didn’t matter because we didn’t really have to sleep since we were spritely, youthful energizer bunnies? Oh you mean the glory days? Yes, yes, I do.
6. “Backwards stalking” your friends on Facebook becomes a favorite pastime. If you’re not busy daydreaming of the glory days of freshmandom, you satiate your yearning nostalgia with ample reminiscing through Facebook. Whether it’s discovering the date that you and your roommate became official real life friends by becoming official online friends, looking and laughing through entire albums dedicated to Boys Bid Day, the first home football game, or your first Burwell experience, or laughing at the once popular and relevant but still hilarious “whatshouldwecallme’s” you posted on your friend’s wall, the flashbacks bring back all the feels. Times are fun when you are doing the back stalking, but as soon as your friends and fellow seniors make it their mission to resurface the most painfully awkward picture of you shagging with a complete stranger at Camp Greystone during orientation – it means war.
7. Your attitude toward homework and studying has shifted dramatically. By now we are all knee deep within our majors and minors and have a pretty solid hang on things. Gone are the days of stressing over calculus homework and struggling through Bio 150 posters. Instead we find ourselves sailing through courses in areas we “get” and are “good at” about subjects that we would never admit that we secretly really enjoy. Now you knock your homework out in 15 minutes and spend the next four hours binge watching half a season of Parks and Rec on Netflix.
8. The word LAST becomes your least favorite word and countdowns are the worst things ever created. As if we needed an extra reminder that “our days at Wofford are numbered,” we are bombarded with overwhelming reminders that the next upcoming event will be the last of its kind for us as Wofford students. The last first day of school at Wofford, the last Parent’s Weekend, the last football game, the last Interim, the last Spring Weekend, the last spring break, the last Spring Concert, the last midterms, the last finals, the last day of school, etc. Can we please just NOT use that word anymore?
9. The number of pictures you take in a day has increased exponentially. Because of the constant reminders of our senior time stamp, you find yourself taking more pictures than you ever had before. “Did you just take a picture of your lunch in Burwell?” “No…yes…I want to remember everything, okay?!” If you say you haven’t taken 45 pictures of Old Main at sunset this year alone, you’re lying. We want to remember what our iconic Main building looks like from every angle, at all hours of the day, and in all four seasons. We are desperately trying to capture and hold onto every single moment. We are taking the profound motto, most popular during our time as freshmen, (yes, I am referring to “Y.O.L.O”), to heart and are trying to keep a little piece of those moments alive for as long as we can.
10. You are way more sentimental and try your best not to take anything for granted. You are eagerly seizing every opportunity to have fun and be with your friends and enjoy the beauty of this campus because the end, as we have feared and tried to avoid, is, unfortunately, nigh.
—Sara Frances Koontz
