The Beginning of the End: Senior Year

Sep 19

I am sitting in my dorm room on a Sunday night with a face mask on struggling to find the words I want to say. For the past two weeks, I have been back at Hofstra, starting my senior year of college. It feels like yesterday that I was moving into my freshman year dorm—during the pre-COVID days—and now I have blinked and I’m in my single dorm room. Like everyone, COVID took a lot from me. I think I will always be sad that I did not have a normal college experience. But I will always love my college years, no matter what.

Of course it is during my last year of college that I suddenly find myself pulled in every which way. I love the classes I am taking so far: U.S. foreign policy, contemporary Middle Eastern history, global literature, political ideologies, and publishing literary magazines. My professors are amazing and the people I share these classes with are great, too. Work is… work. I love that I basically get paid to do homework and call my boyfriend. But, that is not the exciting news!

As I shared in a previous blog post, I applied and was offered a position as a research assistant for the religion department, where I’ll be mapping various belief institutions in Nassau County. My first Thursday back at Hofstra, the five of us who are working on the project met for dinner at a Mediterranean place. I was a bit nervous but dinner was amazing! Both the food and the company were great. I’m really looking forward to working with all these people throughout the semester (and hopefully next semester too!).

Along with being a research assistant, I am now the Deputy Editor of The Hofstra Clocktower, an independent investigative newspaper whose objective is to keep the Hofstra administration accountable. The former editor-in-chief reached out to me in July asking if I would be interested in applying. Well, long story short, I did, and I got the job! I’m looking forward to a great year with the staff.

But the thing I’m most excited about is that I have been making new friends! I thought I was going to be a hermit this year because my wonderful twin has graduated and moved on to bigger and better things, but I have found myself needing to set time aside just to relax in my room—which is a good problem to have.

All in all, it’s been a great start to my senior year. Though I do miss my cats, I know they’re waiting for me at home. I’m excited to see what doors open for me as I start applying for jobs in January. Here’s to a fulfilling semester!