<ir="ltr" id="docs-internal-guid-a46ea158-a283-3ad0-2281-0f89b7c91314">Did I finish the race? Was it a marathon or a sprint? Did I achieve my potential? Did I find my purpose? Did I forget my purpose, as quick as I found it?
We are standing on the other side of four years of college. We were just high school grads, listening to “Summer” by Calvin Harris. Now we are approaching summer 2018, and I wonder how it’s different.
For instance, are you kinder or meaner? Are you more serious, or did you develop a quirky sense of humor? Can you handle the stress? Do people like you? More than they did before?
How many one-night stands? Did you win regionals once, or maybe twice? What is your GPA? Could you now get a perfect SAT score?
Did you develop a work ethic? Did you develop a mental illness? Did you eat mainly with friends?
Did you talk to the custodians? Did you think they would care? Are you comfortable at a party? Are you comfortable with your body? Are you comfortable more than 90 percent of the time?
Did you call home often?
Have you found your limits? Did you cry in the library? Does it now seem worth it? What price did you pay?
Did you try any drugs? Were they serious? Have you transcended it all? Did it feel meaningful?
Are you lonelier?
Did you change your wardrobe? Did you come out of the closet? Did you stop shaving your legs?
How long is your resume? Have you landed your dream job? Are you jealous of others who have?
Are you who you were? Does anyone care? Do you know what to believe?
Three of our class, Carleton Class of 2018, dead. You remember- on the Bald Spot you remember- sitting together- you remember- their afterglow.
But more vividly you remember the stressing, scrambling- the urge to party and constant rambling- the corrigendum, the pallor, the languor besetting- and the forgetting of the things we know.
So, Class of 2018, what do we know? Our heads held high, or treacled with snow?