I remember crossing each day off my calendar in the fall. It was a routine, but also an illustration of the progress I’ve made and the dwindling days until break. As a very regimented person, I enjoyed watching as the crosses slowly accumulated each day. Last week, I looked at my calendar and realized I failed to cross nine days off. Nine mornings I forwent my routine since I was too busy to take the time to open a marker and make a slash. That’s how busy this semester has been. It’s amazing though—I used to not leave my room until that mark was made, but now, time is flying at such a rapid rate, the little details have become lost among large projects, essays, and reading assignments. People often told me that the spring semester would go by faster but I disagreed. I wondered how seven straight weeks would surpass the speed of seven weeks broken up by trips home and weekends with my parents. I get it now. I get how schoolwork can pile up and all of a sudden I look outside and it’s dark and time to call it a night. I get how I wake up Monday morning and all of a sudden it’s Thursday afternoon and I have to start looking to the next week. I like it though. I like the pace, the work, my schedule. Are there some days where I could collapse from exhaustion and wish I didn’t have as much work as I do? Of course, but I’ve grown as a student and can handle deadlines, readings, and papers. That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to a break—this week each day will be crossed off in anticipation—but I also look forward to completing this year since it will mark a surprising, successful, busy, eventful, exhausting, and rewarding freshman year.