A big sigh of relief mixed with equal parts of regret

Aaaaaahhhh. That was a big sigh of relief. It has been a long time coming. This semester has been crazy town. Seriously. And now it is over. Tonight was my last night of classes and then my students will write their final papers and email them to me and the semester will be done. It is a relief. Teaching 3 nights a week is too much. It is stressful and full of grading and planning and commuting and lecturing and then more commuting. And it is also really, really fun. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed teaching as much as I did this semester. I had a great class. They were funny and smart and passionate and I liked every single one of them. Some of them I liked a lot. And it makes me a little sad that I won't see them every week, that I won't hear about their lives and tell them about mine. I even got a little choked up as I said my goodbyes when class ended tonight. They came up and hugged me as they left. Even some of the boys. I held it together like a champ. But the emotion was there, close to the surface. It surprised me. I must be getting soft in my old age. So, there is still that big sigh of relief. Relief that the semester is over, that my stress level will return to normal, that I don't have to drive to Provo twice a week. Relief mixed with a little regret that things have to come to an end. Thank goodness for facebook.