The end to another semester is quickly approaching. For me, the light at the end of the tunnel is coming into view at too rapid a speed. My roommates and I, along with every other student, are drowning in homework and studying to prepare for the dreadful start of final exams and paper due dates that lurk a mere eight days from now. These are the assignments and tests that separate us from weeks of freedom, an ultimate liberation from schoolwork.

Returning from the much-too-short Thanksgiving break is always a challenge for me. Kicking off the season by decorating for Christmas at home is a tease when I know I must return to school for eight days of classes and four tests or papers to finish before I can wholly enjoy December’s festivities.

When finals are done and my mind is free from thinking about studying and writing papers, the end of the semester triggers my mind to wonder what happened to the past three months. “Doesn’t it feel like just yesterday we were registering for ’I Am Here’ before classes even started?” or “Weren’t we just sitting in class on the first day in September, wondering how we would make it through the next few months?”

The progression of each semester is the same story:   Every day I yearn for the weekends. Doesn’t everyone? For the most part, I complete the same routine each day: Go to class, finish homework, work out at the gym, eat. Now I find myself wishing for the warmer days in September when I still had an entire fall semester to enjoy.

Don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled for winter break. Now that I am drowning in work, I hope break arrives sooner rather than later. But I am once again yearning for the future. Will I be upset after the next two weeks fly by and I am driving home for a three-week break from school? Probably not. But when the spring semester rolls around, I know I will want to turn back time and slow down.

I pretend to be festive while I am studying for finals and writing papers by listening to Christmas music on the radio and watching ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas.” But how celebratory can you actually be when you have 50 pages of notes to study to ace that dreadful, impending final in your most difficult class?

But, in the meantime, I hope to have the chance to take a break from studying and enjoy the holiday festivities. The Office of Spiritual Life and the John D. O’Bryant African-American Institute hold various events in December and January for students and faculty to appreciate the season that celebrates families, cultures and religions. For example, Hanukkah commenced last night at sundown, and students could visit the Spiritual Life Center to celebrate.

I always enjoy going to Krentzman Quad for the annual Christmas tree lighting, which will take place on Thursday, Dec. 9. I can’t decline the free hot cocoa and snow globes that include a picture of you and yours truly. (Yes, waiting in line for a half hour is worth it). And I always enjoy the Official Tree Lighting Ceremony at the Boston Commons, which is tonight from 6 to 8 p.m.

I have never made a New Year’s resolution that I follow past the second week in January, but this year I am attempting to start early in December by remembering not to rush each day of the semester the next time around. Perhaps it will work because I am realizing that my 2012 graduation day is quickly approaching. But maybe I won’t attain my goal and I will have the same thoughts next semester before finals in April. Only time will tell.

– Michele Richinick can be reached at [email protected].