Orange & Blue

Issue date: 10/17/08 Section: Opinion

Natalie Lester

It seems that we reach a point every semester, as students, when you just want to lie down and quit. Midterms are overwhelming, papers are piling up, and the weather is starting to get dreary. For fall athletics, you are in the middle of conference play and pressure to perform well is mounting. For freshman, the newfound friendships are hitting a level that you feel that you cannot even brush your teeth without them. Seniors are nearing the beginning of their last semester; the pressure to find a job and finish strong is undoubtedly thick. Sophomores and juniors are trying to just keep their head above water and break up the monotony of the middle. Everyone on campus is running around like a chicken with their head cut off and then, oh by the way, this weekend is homecoming - only the busiest and heavily populated weekend on campus of the year. No pressure.

Regardless of the stress of putting out this paper, cheering the ball game, and praying for decent grades on my exams, I love homecoming. I love the spirit it brings to campus decked out in orange and blue, busy with the bustle of alumni, students, and prospective eagles. It reminds me that we can get through this. As my mom says, "This to shall pass."

A mentor of mine encouraged me last week by saying, "Nat, it will be worth it. The day you walk across the stage with a degree and a job, you will know you never have to go home to homework in a subject you hate. I promise, just hang in there." Thinking about graduation stresses me out, because I feel that there is so much yet to be determined between now and then. Therefore, I do my best not to think about it.

However, homecoming is a time when current students can reflect on where they are going and where other C-N graduates are and have been before them. We sometimes take our education for granted, when really we should wake up everyday thankful that we have the opportunity to worry about schoolwork and our future.

Take a look around campus this weekend. Take a break from school and your day-to-day routine. Take a deep breath and know that everything is going to be okay. Take time for yourself, for this campus, and for all it stands for. Take the opportunity that has been given to you and make the most of it. Take a chance to make your dreams come true, but realize what it is going to take to make it happen. Take a second and grasp what it means to be a student at Carson-Newman, what it will be like as an alumni, and what you can bring back to homecoming after your graduation. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

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