Four years in the making
November 30, 2009 12:34 PM
It’s about that time when students are having their bi-annual “oh-good-God-where-did-this-semester-go” freakout, when it takes every available ounce of focus to not think ahead to the break. It’ll get even more difficult come exam time when we’re feeling torn between studying for that final for that class we couldn’t pay attention in all semester or watching A Charlie Brown Christmas (The latter usually wins out for me). With paper deadlines looming, we start to wonder if our professors have all gathered to conspire against us by making the due dates for all our essays within two days of one another, because as much as we’d planned to do that ‘responsible student’ thing and begin well in advance, things just kept interfering. And so it goes. But, for some of us, there is a light at the end of the hellish-essay-writing tunnel and it is golden. For the past three years, we’ve waded through the end-of-semester work while our 4th year counterparts had their eyes on that coveted band of gold and the prestige that accompanies it. For the past three years, we may have been content to experience that excitement second-hand, but not this time around. I actually never imagined myself as the type of student to be really enthused about X-ring. I’ll confess that my own little countdown didn’t start until a week ago, partly because my mind was in denial about just how rapidly December was approaching, but also because I didn’t really think X-ring would be a pivotal event in my life. I’d always thought the hype around the December 3rd ceremony was kind of cult-like. We’ve all heard the urban legends about Xaverians who lose their rings and then become reunited with them through some unfathomable freakish coincidence. And of course, there’s the fact that alumni in different corners of the globe continue to celebrate St Francis Xavier’s feast day on a yearly basis. One might be inclined to describe it as cultish, indeed. Then, I tried on my own little gold band downtown the other day and decided, “cult or no cult, I want in.” I had to apologize to the lady at Cameron’s for staring at my hand for just a little too long. “Oh no, that’s fine,” she told me. “It’s your ring, take as long as you’d like.” It is my ring, and I’ve earned it. We all have, and we should wear our rings as a testament to our own achievements, academically or otherwise, throughout these past four years. Congratulations to all those receiving their X-rings this December. On a separate note, thank you for reading the Xaverian Weekly this semester. We’ll catch up with you in the New Year.
