May first historically acts as a nostalgic day filled with memories of going out to breakfast with my dad and being granted his permission to arrive to school late due to our homemade holiday. However, tomorrow’s arrival of May first is already hitting me with preemptive nostalgia for the start of my last month at Middlebury College. Naturally, it is nearly impossible to fathom the thought of graduation and of fleeing the nest that has housed me for the past four years. However, I have been preparing for this moment all year and while that cannot remove the reality, it can at least cushion the sting.
Another plush cushion has been the influx of notifications about activities that surround this final month. In fact, it has been a feather bed. We are being showered with events and ceremonies simply for completing four years here. I am tempted to say that I cannot wait for senior week, even though it signifies the end of an era. I am also tempted to say that I cannot wait for the exclusive class of 2012 tank tops.
Aside from many ceremonies and gatherings that will occur throughout the month, the last week here promises to be nothing short of fantastic. We have a day dedicated to lounging at the beach (Dunmore, close enough) followed by an evening Caribbean Cruise (Lake Champlain, close enough). We will wake up to a mimosa brunch with our fellow graduates. We will do the unthinkable and attempt to hit every bar (3) in the local area during a ‘Pub Crawl’.  We will have the opportunity to spend an entire day crossing off To-Do’s from our ‘Bucket Lists’. We will stay up late, dancing into the night for a Senior Formal in the same space where we first Dos-ee-doed at the Ho-Down four years before.We will fall asleep after a Last Chance 80s Dance, with the promise of charming crushes and chanting Call Me Maybe. We will not fall asleep ever before graduating and dine like royalty at Steve’s Park Diner. We will graduate being quite tired but also being filled with pretty spectacular memories.
While tomorrow is certainly a marker of nostalgia and sadness for the inevitable end of our time here at Middlebury College, it is also an indicator of the incredible senior month that will follow.