It may come as no surprise (if you are a middkid) and the people from U.S. News Today, that we have lots and lots of homework. And I do not mean the busy work they give you in high school that you procrastinate on and ultimately finish 5 minutes before class. I mean a never ending supply of assignments, labs, papers and research proposals that if you truly calculated would take you about 7 years, 3 months, and 4 business days to complete. Middlebury on the other hand wants you to do it all in 4 years, plus or minus 2 J-terms.

Coming to Middlebury, I was excited! I planned on being a History and English major so I would be able to read and write all day. Then I had a few epiphanies and decided I like the sciences and film studies; two academic areas that would absorb my time both meta-physically and cognitively. Not only did I have classes during the day from 8 – 4:30pm, but I would have night classes at least 2 days a week, rendering me exhausted and dazed as I trekked through the snow back to my room during the wee hours of the morning only to sleep 5 -6 hours and do it all over again when the birds began to sing. I have tried many times to operate on auto-pilot. Yet as technology would have it, something always malfunctions and I am left troubleshooting my way back into the swing of things.

Reading this, many Middkids would probably respond with a face resembling one such as this -> 0_0.  Wondering why did she break the blue panther shield of silence? We are supposed to keep up the image that we are unstoppable, indefatigable in our attempts to achieve excellence and raise the bar of liberal arts academia to new heights. Yet the reality is: We  All Struggle. Each and every one of us has had a day, or two or three (hell, let’s round up to a semester) where we question why we are here. Are we really smart or are we just exceptional skimmers and plot over-viewers? Where we look at a lab write up and ask ourselves “Would Chinese 101 be easier?” Where we sit in class looking at the clock, praying that our eye-lids don’t close for too long and our notes will be legible later on today and not resemble ancient Sanskrit.  But the reality is, we do it. We make it though. We might not be unscathed, but if it is anything we have learned from this 200k education, it’s how to fake till you make it. Welcome to the Big Midd Blue.