Finals? Can't wait!

After high school, I decided to take a year off before coming here to Clark University. During that time, I worked a full time job in a packaging company during the Graveyard Shift. I was on my feet all night for eight hours with only two ten-minute breaks, running back and forth while operating the printing machines. The company printed, cut, stuffed, and shipped announcements for non-profit organizations. You know the envelopes filled with labels that have your name and address on them with cute little pictures of endangered animals or religious iconography next to them?

I printed those every night for months.

The holiday season was particularly one of the worst times of the year.

The non-profit organizations (particularly the religious ones) always submitted glitter filled designs for labels that they wanted to be printed. The silver and gold glitter rubbed off quite easily. Virgin Mary labels repeatedly got stuck to the inside of the printing machines, causing the ink to smear on possibly hundreds of other labels before you got a chance to notice. Everything would have to be stopped and redone.

Machines in constant need of cleaning and fixing. Light switches to call mechanics over, always on. Paper cut fingers and toner-black hands. New people who needed training to increase production rates. The main collator broken, meaning every envelope needed to be hand stuffed, taking hours longer than it usually would.

And Christmas Eve approaching…while everyone knew that they had to work that day anyway. Parents were worried that they wouldn’t be able to find babysitters—or worse, that they wouldn’t have the money from the minimum wage job to get their child that new toy that was being advertised on TV.

My friends were all home from college having just finished their exams, looking forward to a month off.

More than ever, I envied the college lifestyle. Sitting down for an hour and a half every week, listening to someone talk to you about a subject you were collectively interested in? Having them also suggest further readings, giving you the chance to research even more about the topics you loved? Being given a chance to express your thoughts and ideas someone who had a degree in that area?

This year, more than ever, I’m excited for finals week. Bring it on University, do your worst. I know the alternative holiday season I could be having right now, and I gladly accept your challenge. I will always appreciate my time here at college and I’m very happy to have the opportunity to greet finals this week!