End of Term

Today is the last day of exams for Fall term, and the students are feeling the burn. This morning I held one as she cried on my shoulder about everything from papers to lost socks. There we stood, in the middle of campus with the fog and drizzle closing in around us, and all I could do was hold her, remind her that she will survive, and encourage her to tackle just one task at a time.

Later, walking through the library, I passed a couch where two students were sitting and writing papers, and out of the blue one of them just suddenly crumpled into tears. It was as if, mid-sentence, her paper had rebelled and flung up on the screen an image of herself flipping burgers for the rest of her life. What’s a librarian to do? … So I went downstairs and got four pieces of candy from the staff room, two for each student.

We’re all looking forward to tomorrow.