Take a Breath

As I edited my Junior Theme one last time in the library today, I couldn't believe it was over. My exhale of breath after clicking print on my Word document drew me some weird glances, but I don't care. I am relieved.
Relieved that now I can get a full night's sleep without my brain whirring trying to come up with new ideas.
Relieved that I will be able to have an intelligent conversation with people about something other than the decreasing size of the middle class.
Relieved that I can empty my notebook of all of the superfluous articles I never used.
Relieved that I will be able to eat a meal without a copy of a draft in front of me.
Relieved that I made it through Junior Theme alive.
Relieved that I can kind of have my life back.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed doing my junior theme. I had a good time finding articles as well as writing my paper. For me the boring and time-sucking part was the reading of the articles. Some of them drew me in and I wanted to keep reading, others disgusted me that people voice such strong opinions in a public place like the media, and still others bored me to the point that I fell asleep while reading them. Writing the paper itself was a burden, but I did it with the help of friends. We skyped as we wrote, asking each others opinions as we went. The editing process was less fun when I was reading my own paper, but I thoroughly enjoyed getting to read other people's papers that ranged from the development of the electric car, to school shootings, to the almost omnipresence of corn in food today. Research papers are fun, because they teach you about something that you wouldn't be able to learn from one teacher. You draw facts from many different resources
and you get to teach yourself in a way. And once it's over, it's the greatest feeling of accomplishment. And relief.