The suspense is killing me. I want to start my classes and get going already.

I've spent the last couple of months since my acceptance letter mentally preparing myself for this big change in my life. I've gone over my checklist to make sure everything is taken care of on time; I bought my textbooks and started reading through one of them to get a head start on my studying; I almost obsessively check and re-check my student account online to make sure no new message has come through. It seems that in an effort to prepare myself for the big day, I've over-prepared myself.

It's almost laughable how much of a switch has happened in the last couple of weeks. Just last month, I was looking to the end of summer with trepidation and anxiety, not sure if I was ready for this. Questions swam through my head, like little fish flitting around and trying to escape the fishbowl. Now, the questions no longer hound me; they have settled to the bottom of the bowl like pebbles and are content to see how things play out. Anxiety and trepidation are no longer the words of the day. Now I want things to happen--and soon. I want the waiting to come to an end.

I'm sure that next July, after I have a year of school under my belt, I will look back on these few months of preparation as nothing more than amusing. I will have become a seasoned student by then, and will possess the confidence that goes with having developed a routine and knowing what to expect. For now, I wait on the edge of my seat for next month and the start of my new program.