Welcome back, dear readers. Hopefully you survived the existential experience of spring break and are now easing yourself back into the daily grind that Trinity folk know and despise. Whilst writing this article in the very center of Club Lib, I realized that it was exactly two months until the blissful day of my graduation. After this, I will no longer be a silly undergraduate. On the contrary, I will be a graduate, filled with the knowledge of how to succeed in the world. And that’s when it hit me. I am old.

During my various spring break endeavors, I attempted various times to feel younger and less like the “senior” citizen that I am. Through singing awful karaoke at seedy bars, occasionally imbibing and having a “go with the flow” mentality during vacation, I believed I would relive the days of my college and high school youth that had passed me by. I was terribly wrong. Let me enlighten you, dear friends, as to what actually occurred during my spring break and how I came to realize that this last hurrah cemented me as a part of the elderly world.

Karaoke would’ve been nice”¦ if there hadn’t been a cover. Now that I am old enough to legally drink, my realization that it’s millions of dollars cheaper to drink at home than go out made those $10 cover charges absolutely unbearable. So enjoy your rocking nights at Rio before you realize that three-buck chuck from Trader Joe’s is the only way you can afford to live. Adult realization #1

I am no longer a freshman. I have come to accept my alcoholic limitations with great sadness in my soul. Live it up, young people. Because one day, a single beer will make you sleepy, too. Adult realization #2

Old people cannot possess carefree spirits. This is because we are the ones driving, paying, talking with officers evicting the 18-year-old state-school sorority girls next door and planning graduate school interviews while on the beach. So for all you young people, please, stop planning this very instant and soak in all the adventure and carelessness that youth affords. Because one day, you won’t be able to. Adult realization #3

Now, I don’t mean to imply that my vacation was boring in any way. I actually had the time of my life.  I reconnected with friends I hadn’t talked to in months, relaxed on the beach, and laughed every day. However, in truth, I felt that I was making my final swan song to the undergraduate world and transitioning into a world of adulthood””which sucks.

Thus, my purpose with my small recounting of my week of realizations is simple: please stay young. Even if it’s just for this weekend, stay young. Enjoy the unknown, throw caution to the wind (don’t die in the process), and make memories (even if they’re small) that will make you laugh as you slowly enter the world of the aged and decrepit. With this small pre-weekend plea, I take my leave and bid you farewell and happy recovery. It’s 9 p.m., “The Golden Girls” will be on soon, and I am getting quite sleepy. Until next time”¦

Gabrielle Shayeb is a senior majoring in history.