We prepare to shift all the time; on the roads, waiting in line, while playing sports, or if you’re like me and pretty tall, you have to prepare to change directions while walking (if you don’t shift your weight, you lose your balance in the turn and look like a tumbling oaf). There are bigger things we have to prepare for too, like when we take out the snow shovels, or, like we can right now, put the snow shovels away and take out the lawn furniture.

But there’s something bigger we’re all going to have to start preparing for, if we haven’t already: the end of the academic year. For some, it means a relaxing summer break back home with the family; for others, it means the start of life after Gustavus.

I consider myself lucky. Instead of leaving for home after finals, I get to hang around during senior week and practice with the band and orchestra for commencement weekend festivities. After I’ve said goodbye to my graduating classmates, I return home to my family, dog, and bed and work for my dad all summer.

My ducks are in a row, and I’m looking forward to a shift in pace. Barring any unforeseen circumstance, I know what I’ll be doing for the next 14 months of my life.  It’s in the 15th that I lose it entirely, and why I try to send friendly and supportive vibes to my senior classmates this time of year.

Hundreds of students among us are facing May 30 with less time separating them from it than they expected or dare to guess. This last semester goes by no faster than the first, but I bet it feels like it. In just over two months, they could be getting a call from the Alumni Fund instead of seeing a bill from the Student Finance Office.

I don’t mean to say that graduating is the end of the world, even though it is certainly the end of an era. In fact, it’s the beginning of a whole new one. I envy my friends that are going to depart on their separate journeys, whether to Teach for America, graduate school or any other of the huge number of options Gustavus graduates can pursue. I know I’ll join them soon out in the real world, and in the mean time, will cherish every day I have left here.

I perhaps have been too hasty in making these remarks. Heck, the snow isn’t all gone and mid-terms aren’t over yet. But I do want to pause and reflect about what we can do to make the time between now and the end of the academic year better, how we can shift gears without stalling the car or tearing out the transmission. You can’t practice these things either, so the car analogy might be a little stretched; in fact, you’re basically guaranteed to not shift correctly the first time you drive a stick, so perhaps the analogy is also a tad pessimistic.

I could hardly stand to write out little self-help book styled remarks about ways you can smooth over a tough spot, so I won’t. Instead I’d like to take stock of what occupies the space between now and summer. Classes, work and constantly bleeding out money seem to be things that don’t change and I have yet to find a way around (especially the money part, since we can’t sleep though bills like we can class or call in sick to the IRS and hope to get away with it). The weather will get warmer; there’s nothing Paul Douglas or anyone else can say to change that. And lastly, I’d like to think that a circle of friends always expands, so that too should be taken as an ideal constant.

With that said, I’d like to leave you with one last thought. I’m never one for giving unsolicited advice; if there’s anything I’ve learned from Philosophy it is how little I actually know.  Still, that sentiment does not override in my mind the true goodness of enjoying the company of others. Whether acquaintance or partner, friend or stranger, spending time with others helps so much with keeping yourself balanced, and opens your mind to entirely new ideas and experiences. Besides, like with anyone you’ll ever meet, some students among us will not be returning in the fall, and this might be your last chance to share your life with theirs.