Tasting the Finish Line

May 13, 2015

Today I finished the last regular class session for my undergraduate degree from Rochester Institute of Technology. All the expected feelings are present: pride, accomplishment, satisfaction, fatigue, anxiety, and nostalgia. Yet, as close as I am, it’s not quite over yet.

I had a terrible assistant principal in high school. Total jerkface, nepotistic, with an uncouth sister-in-law (who also taught at the school) and a penchant for being a real buzzkill. But he did have one insightful thought this one time:

Don’t walk across the finish line. You’ll regret it as soon as you cross.

That quote haunts my memory and it has rung true for me throughout my undergraduate career. I currently sit at the second annual HomeStretch Hackathon, an event sponsored by MAGIC at RIT. I covered the first instantiation of this event last year, embracing the presence of peers and pizza. The premise has not changed: Finish final work for the semester, get free pizza, and get extra credit.

I’ll be working on finishing up some assignments for my Business and Legal Aspects of FOSS course…and a few other classes…all of them (/neglect). I’ll also be hacking on noted, an exciting project masterminded by some friends at RIT. It’s gonna be a great time, but how could it not be with buffalo chicken pizza and free software?