Well, we have reached it, the end to yet another semester. This has been my seventh and, quite frankly, most interesting one here at RPI; full of schoolwork, student government, work at the pub, and—­not to mention—graduation looming in the near future and the prospect of no longer being a student. With the end of the semester right around the corner, and final exams coming up just as fast, in the back of my head I can hear my father’s words as I have for the past six semesters: “Finish strong.” So when the end is near, you can put yourself on autopilot, so to speak. Knowing that the semester is going to be over soon is reason enough to just ease back on the intensity and go through the motions for the next two weeks, with the prospect of holiday break coming up. There is no better way to ruin your spirits during break than getting a poor grade report. Now more than ever, it is important to put in the extra effort to ensure that all the work you have done over the past few months pays off; don’t make everything you have done go to nothing. This is something I learned a long time ago when I ran track (like I said, it was a long time ago,) at the end of a race, you don’t slack off and jog it in to the finish line; you finish with a kick and sprint all out, then finish strong. With that I would like to wish students good luck with the rest of their semester’s work, and hope they all finish strong.
Lastly, this is my last article of the semester. I look forward to writing my articles again next semester and speaking with all of you. I would like to wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday break. If this is your last semester at RPI, good luck with everything in your future; I hope that your experience here has been as rewarding as mine and that you come back and visit the Institute often. I would also like to wish good luck to everyone on the Rensselaer Engineering Education Across Cultural Horizons and other study abroad programs next semester; I envy you. So with that, I conclude: See you next year!
