333 Reflection
and then rips it out from under us before we even get a chance to enjoy it. The time when seniors have officially given up, downgrading their class attendance from “most of the time” to “occasionally.” The time when lowers are in the underappreciated but always missed balance of having no work and tons of free time. The time when preps are... probably in agora, I don’t know. But most importantly, May is the time upper spring starts winding down for half the class. After finishing the 333 and APs, uppers feel like superheroes. Suddenly, getting six hours of sleep feels like a triple sleep in, we can write entire B+ English papers in the time it would take a prep to finish their homework (forty minutes, tops), and everything starts to seem much less important. As we look back at the last few months, finally emerging from the calzone box throne in our all nighter palace, it can be scary to try and start over, trying to forget that cursed research paper. But I’m here to tell all you uppers, and soon-to-be uppers, it is possible.
1. Go Outside
Chances are, if you’re an upper, you haven’t been outside since the middle of fall term. Now you might have gone to a sporting event or in between classes, but going outside for the sake of “enjoyment” or “social interaction” seems foreign to you. You’ll get a sunburn within the first five minutes of tanning on the south side quad. People will be genuinely surprised that you still exist, assuming you had either gotten kicked out or died in the long hard winter. But a little sun and human contact will be good for you, because, as we learned from Tom Hanks’ Castaway, your best friend cannot be an inanimate object, even if it has wifi.
2. Eat Breakfast
You’ve forgotten that the word “egg” is not necessarily followed by the word “noodle” or “roll.” The last time you were in Dhall before 9:45 was lower spring. Jazz brunch couldn’t even rouse you from your precious dreaming. If caffeine wasn’t in it, you weren’t eating or drinking out in the pre-lunch hours. But now, all of that is over. Once again, you can smell the sweet bouquet of Dhall waffles and crepes. Your mouth will water at the sight of a mound of dry powdered eggs on your plate. You’ll remember just how incredible a plain bagel with cream cheese can be. Trust me.
3. Enroll In At Least Five Art Courses
Diploma requirements are a thing of the past. Sure, when you showed your college counselor your ideal schedule he or she either burst out laughing or was genuinely terrified for your college prospects, but who cares? Tell all of your colleges you’re taking Math 520 and dabbling in Quantum Physics, they’ll be none the wiser. After experiencing upper year, you need a bit of a break. You’re not sure if there even is a printmaking 4, or if you can legally even take that many arts, but you’d better believe you’ll find a way.