This is the season for lasts for all Middlebury seniors.

It becomes almost a habit to think of everything coming to an end. This week is the last week that I will work on a thesis regarding Portuguese political movements that has keep me involved for a year and a summer. This Friday is the last time that I will chop and grill and garnish for Dolci restaurant, a project I’ve only recently become involved in. In two weeks I will face my last group of prospective students and parents ever, and for the last time share my amazing time here at Middlebury.

There are so many things that I wish I’d done at Midd–gone to a Pottery Club open house event and gone rock climbing with the Mountain Club to name a few–but so many more things that I’ve dived into and enjoyed.

And I’ve realized that although this is the season for last dinners with freshman roomates and for last trips to see world-class academic lecturers, it is also a time for firsts. For the first time I’m asking other seniors what they will be pursuing as a career, instead on inquiring about their major, and that next step is exciting.

It is satisfying to feel that one phase is being completed. Yes, the idea of lasts can be scary and there will certainly be tears at Commencement, but one specific first has now been opened up to me: first upcoming Reunion to relive all of the good times!

Now that spring is officially upon us, Middlebury students took advantage of yesterday’s beautiful weather to support Globe Med’s 5K run to combat malnutrition. Founded in 2008, GlobeMed at Middlebury is one of 50 GlobeMed national chapters working to improve the lives of people living in poverty across the world. Proceeds from the race will help Gardens for Health International in Rwanda combat childhood malnutrition through health initiatives.

Running for a good cause only bolstered the general atmosphere of excitement. With the sun shining brightly overhead, more than one hundred Middkids lined up in front of Proctor Dining Hall for a race that would take runners down past the Ralph Myhre Golf Course, through the cross country trail, which winds up and down breathtaking views and rolling hills, and back up through main campus. Hopefully exhausted runners, looked to the quote “The Strength of the Hills is His Also” – inscribed into the top of Meade Chapel at the hills’ peak – as motivation for one last sprint as they made their way up the final leg of the race

Participating in today’s event was a great way to engage the beautiful weather and share in a collective effort to support communities around the world. I want to thank my friends with whom I ran today for supporting me through the trail and making sure that I crossed the finish line. Perhaps today’s showing will inspire me to consider taking up more short-term races before I graduate next month.

I can’t stop thinking about a trip I took last Saturday morning with some friends. We went to the Middlebury Farmer’s Market, just five minutes away at a local elementary school. It was one of the last weeks the market will be held in its winter location, as it will soon switch to its outdoor setting at MarbleWorks, with a beautiful view of Otter Creek falls in the center of town. A friend of mine has an internship this semester with a local baker, who each Friday teaches her the secret to making the perfect soups, breads and baked goods (which is lucky for me and my roommates, as we get to sample her latest creations each week). Her “baker friend,” as we have come to call her, was selling her goods at the market and hands down had the best table around. Her gorgeous apple crisps, granola bars and cupcakes were piled high. The soups that my friend had helped her make the day before were neatly arranged in mason jars in a metal bucket with ice. It was quite the sight!

Delicious baked goods at the farmer’s market

Looking around at other tables, I was surrounded by fresh carrots, beets, and more types of lettuce than I knew what to do with. We sampled the veggies and chatted with the vendors, who had come from local farms and were selling their own produce proudly. It’s safe to say it was the most beautiful I had ever seen an elementary school gym!

Walking around the market that day, it hit me (not for the first time since coming here) how lucky Middlebury students are to be in Vermont. Getting to explore the Green Mountains and summit some pretty unbelievable peaks, we also benefit from the flatter portions of the state — the farms themselves. About 25 percent of the food served in our dining halls is from local farms, including the College’s own Organic Farm, which was started by students a few years ago and is located a quarter mile off campus. Taking a walk out to the garden at sunset is one of the absolute best ways to spend an evening, and something I recommend you start doing your first year here.

Students have continued to promote local foods here on campus in exciting ways this semester as well. A few days ago, a new group called “Eat Real” kicked off their efforts with “Real Food Week,” a week full of panels, lectures, barbeques and other types of programming aimed to encourage students to learn about local foods and push for even more of them in the dining halls. I attended to a dinner made with entirely local ingredients that was one of the best meals I’ve ever had on campus. I was one of the lucky students to get let in (word of advice: get to local food dinners early!). Also in attendance were two farmers who sell some of their produce to Middlebury, and who spoke to us about the importance of local foods and what we can do to incorporate them into our lives.

As a senior moving to a city in just a few months, I am definitely enjoying easy access to fresh, local foods as much as possible and can say with confidence that Middlebury is a delicious place to spend four years.

Spring break is officially behind us and we are nearing the “home stretch,” the last few weeks of classes and activities. With the temperature creeping up (yes, people are wearing shorts and dresses this week in celebration of blue skies and sunshine), Midd Kids have started to embrace their well-deserved spring  in a variety of ways. In addition to spending more time outside, a key marker of spring for me is the April Fool’s issue of The Campus. In a tradition that started four years ago, the editorial staff takes a one-week hiatus from reporting on real life news at Middlebury and tries its hand at satire. We create an entirely made-up “joke” issue with some pretty absurd stories about developments on campus, and in the process have a lot of laughs ourselves.  As an Opinions editor, I get to write fake op-eds and columns that poke fun at events and themes on campus. On every other week, my co-editors and I receive pieces submitted from students, faculty, staff and community members who use the section as a platform to voice their opinions. The discussions that play out in our section contribute to serious discourse on campus that I think is incredibly important to have,  but I have to admit it is also a lot of fun to take a break and pull some April Fool’s pranks on our readers.

It’s safe to say that each section rose to the occasion this year. Sports broke news that Middlebury is changing its mascot from the Panther to the Moose to be more original. Local News interviewed a new celebrity in town, a three-year old cow named Trischia. Arts and Sciences reported that a bio lab on campus was revealed to be raising dragons. The final product always tricks some gullible students into believing the stories, until they are told otherwise. Even better than seeing the look on these students’ faces, though, is the making of the issue itself. By this point in the year, the members of the editorial board are pretty close, and we have no trouble poking fun at each other. Of course, helping other sections come up with content for this issue is half the fun.

Keeping up the tradition of the April Fool’s issue is not only a nice break from the normal newspaper schedule, but it shows what is in my mind one of the very best things about Middlebury students: we try not to take ourselves too seriously. With all our obligations on campus, we have busy lives and packed calendars. At the end of the day, though, we are all still kids looking to have fun. We are capable of juggling our classes, meetings and practices, but aren’t too busy or serious to celebrate April Fool’s day to the fullest.

Oh and don’t worry – the mug shot picture of Middlebury College President Ronald Liebowitz on the front page is a joke too.

Vermont is as big or small as you make it. It can seem huge if you try to hit up all of the ski spots of the state during your time here, or if you take off on a maple sugar and local cheese tour, or if you are stuck in a snowstorm while driving the mountain passes back from Boston. But it can also seem quite small, centered on Middlebury, if you’re running a student organization on campus, or taking 5 classes and spending all evenings in the library. The state is amazingly flexible, stretching to the appropriate size for how much free time you have.

This semester, I decided to expand the state just a tad bit. As a senior taking just two courses and a thesis, I decided that I had gotten into a rut—I still love the organizations that I’m involved in and the things that I dedicate my time to, but I needed both a new challenge and a weekly excuse to get off of the campus and into VT.

So I can now proudly introduce myself as Bridport Central School’s new Communications Intern! I was shocked at how readily the opportunity was available—all it took was responding to one of the myriad volunteer opportunity emails, interviewing for 30 minutes, and committing myself to 5 hours a week of writing features on the goings-on in Bridport!

More than anything, I think that this is a perfect example of how dynamic and fast-paced Middlebury is. All that getting involved with a new project takes is taking the plunge—there is a constant stream of emails urging students to act as a Big Brother or Big Sister to a community youngster, or serve food at a town dinner, or give French lessons to kids at a Middlebury elementary school. Getting off campus every once and a while and pledging a few of your talents to the Vermont community is really a rewarding experience, and I’m glad that I figured that out, even if just in my last few Middlebury College months.