Waiting to Exhale

Day by day, the other three folks at my house are getting closer to the end of yet another school year. I hear them mark their progress and I visualize it as a large to do list with items being checked off one at a time.

Holly was the first to finish. Her last exam was yesterday and an aura of relief, happiness and freedom crossed her face last evening as she reported this news.

Lisa, too, pronounced a modicum of success last night as she uploaded final grades from two of her classes. She added a caveat, though, that final grading for her two most labor intensive classes is yet to come. That will probably mean some late nights between now and the end of the line.

She was excited to say, however, that she is ahead of schedule.

Paul has two weeks to go until he celebrates the end of his junior year. The next five days are critical though. They are also jam-packed.

On Tuesday, for example, he had his final improv rehearsal of the school year and then he attended the spring concert at another area high school. On and on it goes as he finishes papers, studies for End of Course (EOC) exams and fulfills myriad extracurricular obligations.

Check. Check. Check.

Tonight was the final chorus concert of the year (Major Works and Student Conducted Pieces) at Central Baptist Church of Bearden. The chorus, under the direction of Kenton Deitch, always performs such rich, melodic pieces. Tonight’s performance was no exception. Very emotional. So many talented young voices in the various FHS choirs.

There is starting to a feeling, though, around our house that this is, indeed, the home stretch.

Summertime takes on an entirely different feel than the hustle/bustle of academe that goes on from September-May.  And when you enter that final push, as is currently underway, there is a feeling of exhilaration. It’s so close, you can almost taste it.

Summer vacations. Nights with friends. Birthday celebrations. Parties. And for Holly and Paul, this summer features some super study opportunities. We’ll ALL get there soon enough.

• Lisa WILL finish grading that final stack of papers. She’ll push the send button and upload her last bit of grades. Then, exhale. Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
• Paul will submit his final term papers. He’ll take the EOC exams. He’ll do the concert and the improv show and then…soon…he’ll be done for the year. Ahhhhhhhhhhh.
• Holly was the first to finish. Double Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

And soon, we’ll be on to a number of exciting summer plans that await.

JG

Originally posted 5/10/2012