It’s all familiar, the rush of legs around the quad – the first day of school. Students of various shapes and sizes, moulds and designs, styles and gait, traipsing all over what a few weeks ago was just a quiet neighbourhood of a few teachers and construction workers. Now, the peace is over and the devil of rote is back. The pandora’s box has been open and won’t be restrained anymore until sometime in the dead of winter. Yes, here we go again.

For me, my last Fall semester in this haunted place as a student, it will soon get pretty busy and, eventually, quiet. Unfortunately, as I have experienced very many times over, approaching the end doesn’t always bring as much of a thrill as exaggerated expectations usually hopes it would. Maybe the thrill is more in the process than in the end itself.