The End of the Last Beginning

(In other words, the end of my first semester of senior year). This post is nothing special. I'm too tired to actually write anything interesting, which means this post will probably actually be all over the place in an unorganized mess of thoughts. But here's what's on my mind about the end of the semester, if you want to keep on reading. 

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I'm not sure that I have fully processed the fact that last week I finished my last set of college finals.

I'm not sure that it's really hit me yet that next semester, I won't be in the classroom with the group of people that have become my family.

I'm not sure that I've processed the fact that next semester, I'll be in a classroom from 8am-4pm every day- working and teaching like I will be hopefully for the rest of my life.

The end of this semester was nothing like I pictured it to be. It was rushed due to training at Elim (I'll have a post on that by the end of the day), and it seemed like everyone was gone on break before I could even snap my fingers.

Really- the end of the semester was just that- the end. It's over. Just like every other semester. It doesn't feel any different. Yet. I'm waiting for that to hit me.

There was only one point of the end of this semester that really got me. It was realizing that next semester I won't be learning under Professor Harkema. That realization hit me in the middle of November and as soon as it hit I realized that we (the seniors) had about 3 weeks to figure out how we could express our thanks to her for all she has taught us.

After a crazy 3 weeks, we ended up with this. I worked on it for hours and am SO happy with how it turned out.

We ended up showing the video to her in our last class period together. While a lot of people had already seen the video, it was Professor Harkema's first time seeing it. After we showed it, she thanked us with words that I will never forget. She told us all that we were ready to go out and further God's kingdom, that we were going to make a difference, and that she was proud of us. That was the only time I cried about the semester ending. 

But now that it has ended, I'm trying to process it. I think being at Elim every day from 8am-4pm for the past week has kept me from really processing much of anything, which may be a blessing in disguise. 

While I may not know what next semester holds, there is one thing I do know. I am incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to learn under amazing professors here the past few years (especially Professor Harkema). I firmly believe that they have prepared me for next semester, though it may look different from anything I've seen yet. And so while the idea of student teaching is terrifying, it is also so exciting. I know I'm ready. And I know I'm going to learn so much. And I can't wait.