My life in semesters.

I have my last final as a college undergraduate in 7 hours and 28 minutes. Shockingly, I can't sleep. I can never seem to sleep when I need to, and when I do take my infamous coma-naps (Kevin calls them my hibernations) they are never at good times.

Because said final is my last final, and it is an English final at that (the absolute worst kind of final because it's all BS and taking about things nobody actually cares about), I've started down the road of no return - the road of the lasts.

I started thinking about how many finals weeks I have survived (9), and how I can't remember most things from my exams, but I remember that week like it was yesterday. I vividly remember my first (and last) dead week at Iowa State, as well as sitting in the lounge with Jessica Giuttari eating my weight in junkfood just to use up my Cy-Cash. Those were the days when I was a Political Science and English major with a Spanish minor. That worked out well for me, obviously.

From there I started thinking about my first semester at Iowa and finally feeling like I was where I needed to be. I remember staying up all night with the girls on my floor studying for Intro to Sociology and thinking they would be the best friends I ever had. Again, that worked out well for me, obviously.

My sophomore year, I decided to break up with my boyfriend mid-finals week the semester I took 17 hours. To this day I stand by my belief that it was a miracle from God that I passed my finals that week. I guess in this case, that did work out well for me.

I guess you get the general idea that I have always measured my life around academic events. We all do it ("I met her sophomore year" or "My junior year we had that horrible ice storm, remember?"), but the fact that I barely remember what I wore yesterday, yet remember what I wore to my Intro to Law final sophomore year freaks me out a little. Partly because that's a bit strange, but also because what happens when I no longer have those academic bench marks to measure my life from? It seems a little strange to say, but college gave me structure. I've been here so long, doing this song and dance, that I'm afraid I don't know what to do without it.

Yes, I'm aware that countless individuals have done it before me. In fact, because I decided to take a victory lap, a large portion of my friends have already gone through all of this because they graduated last May. I'm a bit on the quirky side, though, so I suppose I'm wondering how my mind will wrap itself around this dramatic life change. I am moving back in with my parents, after all.

I have a major love/hate relationship with Iowa City. In some regards, the place absolutely disgusts me. You would think this was the elusive Garden of Eden by how some people talk about it, and I've long said you couldn't pay me to live here after graduation. My logic is that I couldn't stand being around college students without actually being one. Let's be honest - they're a bit lazy, narcissistic, and drunk. I also wouldn't want to work in the school district because the students are so used to academia and being around such rich culture they don't even realize what they have; they're completely jaded to the incredible opportunities around them.

Yet, I've also lived in Iowa City for four years, and the past two have been continuous. I've been here through tornados (freshman year), an earthquake (junior year), a flood (junior year), and most recently a fire. It would be impossible, and a complete lie, if I said I didn't feel invested in this community. I've spent the past 2.5 years explaining to campus visitors why I love Iowa City and the University of Iowa, and I truly wasn't lying. There is a lot to offer here, and I adore the campus and downtown Iowa City. I've also had a lot of fun here. College was certainly the best years of my life (thankfully, because high school was quite anticlimactic).

Although I have a general idea where life is taking me, and a solid idea exactly what I'll be doing until July, I have to stop and consider all of the semesters, finals weeks, nights out, nights in, natural disasters, overdramatized disasters, laughing, crying, fighting, running, sleeping, drinking coffee, perusing the library, eating Which Wich, and enjoying life that I've done in this town.

And believe me, that's certainly not a bad thing to consider. Just maybe now when I have a final in 7 hours and 5 minutes.