kaBAM!

That, friends, is the sound of the sophomore slump crashing into that vulnerable spot on the back of my neck just under the skull base. It's a freakin' avalanche.

As Brandi alluded to in her last post, there has been quite a bit of talk over envelope-duties about the upcoming academic year at Beloit. For Laura, working out the printing schedule for our campus paper, "The Round Table," is heavy on her mind. There's also a special academic project on her plate that looks like it may turn into a Senior Thesis. (She's kind of intimidatingly busy.) For Brandi, the focus is just getting pumped to get back into classes and getting back to her team. Travis is facing the switch back from academics and life abroad to regular campus life AND the whole the-end-is-in-sight syndrome known best by those facing their final year at a liberal arts college. Impressing the heck out of me with her motivation, Kristen seems to use most of her extra time planning events and checking out resources for a club she is helping to lead for Fall Semester.

Naturally, these focused coworkers of mine have got me in kind of a panic. I'm a creative writing major trying to pull together the papers to hop on a plane in January to spend a semester hiding out a university in France. All these prepared people are making me anxious to get back to the grindstone.

Without the crunch of due dates and a class schedule, my summer brain is left idle to wrap itself around how to spend my birthday on Sunday or training for Cross Country season or reading all the books left on my list for the summer (Anna Karenina, here I come) or whatever other shiney thought floats through my radar.

I can't believe I miss the stress of the academic year.
I can't believe we are already in the dregs of July.
I can't believe I gave in and got addicted to coffee.
I can't believe there are still more envelopes at my feet, waiting to be stuffed. I swear, when I finally leave three years from now, there will be no empty envelopes left in the state of Wisconsin.

Stay hydrated kiddies-- the sun is shining.
- Julia