Kitchenettes are like sanctuary.

June 17th. 8 more days, including the weekend. 6 without. I can do this.

I'm not sure what it is about the end of the year that gives everyone such a violent case of the jitters. For juniors, it's Decades for sure, and for everyone else, I suppose it's that feeling of being trapped. We've been here in this building nearly every day for how long now? Nine months or so? (Huh - coincidentally that's how long I've been in a relationship.) Everyone around here just feels like they shouldn't be here anymore. They want to feel a little bit more freedom, the freedom to get up at 10 or 11 am, or 4 pm if you prefer.

Me? I'm feeling a little jittery for my own personal, almost opposite reasons. I'm uneasy because it's all ending so quickly. Nine months ago, I was in a small kitchenette in the science department of Bryn Mawr, laughing because everything felt so new and special and scary. We were almost juniors, we mused about how we could and would succeed in the coming year. Now the year has come and gone, and I've grown into a new person. It took a lot of gentle tugging among forceful pushing and pulling, but I'm pleased to say I feel like a whole human being now.

This summer, I may find myself in another version of the kitchenette, say a full grown kitchen or the familiar hardwood floor of my home away from home. I can sit cross legged on the floor, eat excess chocolate ice cream off a spoon and stare at someone who was in the same position a year ago, when everything was undefinable. Just me, and him. Smiling at each other because we don't know what's coming next, just like we didn't know a year ago.

My, how a year can change everything.