What to do now?

The moments leading up to final exams are a whirlwind of anxiety, nerves, but most of all, anticipation until the last one is finished. Now that my finals are over and this semester is in the history books, I miss it already. The whirlwind for some students is continuing and will continue until tomorrow, but I'm done. All those sleepless nights, cans of Red Bull and cups of coffee are irrelevant now. There's no phase to transition out of school and frankly, it's not healthy. After jogging a few miles, a runner doesn't just hop on their couch and watch television, they do a cool-down, some stretches and maybe chug some Gatorade to regain some electrolytes. Thing is, students are like the runner who doesn't do a cool-down or any stretches after a run. We've been running an academic marathon for the past nine months and now what?

Nothing.

I see students moving out of the dormitories, signs informing people when buildings are closing for the summer, and the constant reminder, everyone's leaving. I'm leaving too, in a week or so, and I have a pit in my stomach. My anxiety and nerves that were so prevalent the last two days are still on high alert. They don't just turn off immediately after the last final exam. They have segued into the anxiety of departing East Lansing. I have this feeling people get when they stare out a plane's window after a vacation. They watch as it fades off into the distance. Or the feeling Michiganders get when they close down their cottage for the winter. Or the feeling at the end of a party when everyone's gone and you're sort of just like wondering where everyone went.

My backpack is still filled with my books from class. My desk still is covered with review guides and pens, the detached tops of those pens act as bookmarks. Empty cups of coffee fill my garbage can giving my room a nice subtle coffee aroma. Time to face it, I guess. Time to clear up the junk, sell back the books, empty out my back pack and say goodbye to the finals, homework, papers...the semester.