The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/9/08 Section: Opinions

EMILY WELLBAUM

A few times in my life I have had illnesses that have been delightfully wonderful.

The first glorious disease was chickenpox. I was 5 and got to miss a week of kindergarten while I watched "The Little Mermaid." I delighted in taking baths in oatmeal to soothe the itchy, red spots.

When I was 18, I came down with senioritis, another blissful disease I am sure most of you remember. Senioritis hit me hard. I developed senioritis immediately after exposure to the fireworks that lit up the acceptance screen on the University's undergrad admissions Web site.

Unfortunately, in my senior year here at the University, I have yet to come down with my beloved senioritis.

Oh sure, I'm tired of classes, quizzes, assignments and tests, but I have yet to develop true senoritis. I don't have the apathy, the lethargy and the carefree musings in my day that I desire.

Sadly, I have discovered that like chickenpox, senioritis is something I will get only once in my life.

My final semester has kept me on a hurried schedule. I have been to career fairs, edited my résumé, networked and not stopped my search for post-graduate plans.

Unlike high school when I knew where I was going - straight on to more schooling - I am having difficulty narrowing my life down to one path. In my effort to find my way, I see only more work ahead, not the reprieve of senoritis.

I am sure many of you who are graduating this semester share my general lack of enthusiasm for embarking into the real world. After 17 years of school, I am an expert in surviving the academic realm and apprehensive to leave it behind.

As graduation approaches, the constant pressure to practice interview questions and write cover letters is getting me down. I am sick all right, but it's a new disease that I have yet to diagnose.

The only cure I have found so far is to keep working. Surrounding myself in my white linen résumé paper and a list of contacts offers me some relief from this pain of constant worry. Hopefully this is merely a seasonal illness, like the flu, and come May, I think I'll be cured.

- Emily Wellbaum is a senior from Roswell majoring in publication management.

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