Campus is crowded. Like, really crowded. More so than usual, and you’re fed up with it. Everyone who neglected to attend classes or show their face in the library is finally creeping out of their dorms and apartments with the realization that finals week is just around the corner.
This means no scooter parking. Anywhere. No free tables in the library — especially ones near outlets. Worst of all, there are impossibly long waits at every Starbucks on campus.
After coming to terms with the fact you just might have to share a table with a stranger in the Marston Science Library basement if you were ever going to find a place to settle in, you plop down next to an innocent-looking guy who looks like he is studying pretty hard.
“Good, they won’t try to talk to me. I can get some work done,” you think to yourself.
This fantasy lasts about an hour and you’re really in the zone with your studying, certain you’re on your way to an A in chemistry — and you’re interrupted.
You’re shocked to find at some point during your focused study session, someone had thrown a paper airplane at you. You look around to see if you recognize anyone around you. Nope, nothing but unfamiliar and stressed-out faces.
You curiously unfold the airplane and on the paper it says:
Darts & Laurels
With another week came more revelations about sexual assault and even more incriminating details about celebrities and other high-profile members of society we once held in high esteem. Needless to say, the upset we felt every time our news alerts went off on our phones is the first unpleasant dart of the week.
Revelations about NBC’s “Today” show’s Matt Lauer were probably the most difficult to stomach. It isn’t that we hold Lauer to a higher standard, but for a lot of us, he was somewhat of a staple in our lives as we grew up. Before the time of smartphones and social media, many of us woke up and ate our Cheerios with the voices of Matt Lauer and Katie Couric in the background as our parents digested morning news through the “Today” show. At the least, we all watched him present the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. To learn about some of the disgusting things he allegedly did was, to put it lightly, heartbreaking.
While it feels like just yesterday we were gifted the laurel of saying goodbye to former UF head football Coach Jim McElwain, we have just as soon been granted another with the appointment of Dan Mullen as his replacement.
Mullen, who previously worked for Mississippi State University, is returning to UF after nine years away. From 2005 to 2008, Mullen helped lead the Gators to win two national titles as an assistant coach. Mullen has expressed he is prepared for the challenge our school represents. We can only hope this upcoming season goes better than the previous one.
This upgrade in the coaching staff, unfortunately, did not come soon enough. Our football team ended the season with the record of four games won and seven lost. We were not able to earn a bowl game and will not be going to the SEC championship. Although we often pride ourselves on going to a school that is about much more than just sports, it would be nice to have a football team to brag about.
There is one thing every one of us has to look forward to: a break. We award our last laurel to the end of the 2017 Fall semester. After months of homework, tests and early morning classes, we will have nearly an entire month to relax, have fun and blow off steam.
Whether you plan to spend your break on the couch binging Netflix, on vacation somewhere exciting or surrounding yourself with friends and family from back home, it is something to be excited about. We have less than one week of classes left and just a few short days of exams between us and a month without stress. Pull through, dear reader! We can do this!
