Welcome back.

So you had about six weeks off. Was it good? Was it fun? I hope you had snow wherever you had Christmas, cause there's none around here. Spring semester starts today at NMSU or NM State, whatever the current label is, and the cycle starts anew.

I always prefer the spring semester to the fall for at least three reasons:

1. Better Parking

No its not much better, since parking improvments here must be looked at with some deal of perspective and relativity. Still you have to admit, it seems easier to find places to park in the spring. That comes in handy on a late day that you forgot you had class and are on the run. On the other hand you can just park at Conoco, walk it and save $40.

2. Classes

For me it just seems much easier to get into the classes you need in the spring. I have never had an issue getting into a spring class. In the fall they are all perpetually locked and nobody wants to let me in.

3. Fall semesters just suck

I know for the freshmen it's all about Juarez and drinking in the fall, but I got here when I was 22 so it was a total non issue. For some reason, karma perhaps, all the junk from earlier in the year comes back to haunt you in a huge way. The spring allows you that false sense of baptism from the new year where everything seems new again.

Everything is new right? Sadly no. The wonderful flip side to the optimism is the buckets and buckets of reality that surround you.

A lot of us come back from New Years with all sorts of resolution promises that deep down we know could never be met. No matter how gung-ho I come back, after mid-term I'm ready for a long break again. The hard work to get the "A" seems almost not worth it.

So close to May, you stand there and the reality begins to drip. Your best laid plans aren't going as, well...planned. What is there to do? Do what I do, put your best face on and ride it out and enjoy the summer. Its not all bad as lots of good stuff happens in the spring, not least when the temperature warms and the clothing levels of both sexes begin to get less and less.

Everything doesn't go as bad as I like to make it seem. Everybody's semester goes different. With 30,000 enrolled at NMSU, that is a lot of different experiences and my tale of pessimism is merely a cautionary vision of what could be.

So don't let your semester sputter out. Keep an even mind and enjoy the year as it passes. Many an alumni will tell you to enjoy the time and freedom you have here becuase it won't last and you may not see times like these again. When you feel the cold wet sting of reality, don't panic. Enjoy it and remember what its like to worry about things that you will someday find trivial. When you are out of here reality begins to take on a whole new meaning and you will wish for the easy days of being drenched in a reality much easier to deal with.