“First Monday of the Spring 2016 Semester” by CSUF Photos is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from…

Songwriter: Dan Wilson. Closing time lyrics © Wb music corp., Universal music corp.

As I recently finished my second-to-last semester as a doctoral student and as I am about to finish another semester as an educator, I am thinking on the lyrics of Semisonic’s 90’s hit “Closing Time”. The song gained popularity when I was a junior in high school. I have a particular memory of hearing a friend of mine sing it as we relished in the excitement of a high-school journalism conference held in Colorado Springs the summer before our senior year. We were about to embark on what we considered to be a closing of our educational experience. Although we had plans to continue our education, senior year felt like an end.

Closing time, every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end…

Songwriter: Dan Wilson. Closing time lyrics © Wb music corp., Universal music corp.

I often ponder on my decision to work in education. The cyclical nature of my job is something I both appreciate and dread. In some ways, it is a pleasure to see students grow in my classroom before they move on to other adventures. On the other side of that coin is the goodbye I utter to my pupils, knowing that it will likely be the last time we interact. I suppose that is a beautiful thing in its way, but I am too often emotionally blindsided by the constant ebb and flow of people with whom I have the pleasure of sharing in the educational experience.

“SKY for New Year’s card” by skyseeker is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

As the holiday season plays on and the new year dawns, I look forward to the opportunity to reflect on how much I have changed this year and set goals for the new. I am glad I can continue to write, to read, and meet people who can share something unique with me. I’m grateful for ends, beginnings, relationships, challenges, solutions and, whatever they may be, the places I will be from.

Until the next time,

Jeffery L. Buckner-Rodas – The SwashBuckner