End of the year

I know the school year is a cycle and cycles don't really have ends. Ask Krebs and Calvin. But today was my final exam, which means the end of this academic year and the end of this year's classes. Every summer, there's a moment or two that makes me think of the end of the movie, The Candidate. The movie is very much worth seeing, but I'm guessing none of you ever will (though it's timely at the moment) so I won't worry about spoiling anything (also it came out in 1972 so it's a little late for spoiler alerts).

In the movie, a candidate, played by a very young and charismatic Robert Redford, plays a candidate who is somewhat reluctantly recruited to run against a very popular, seemingly unbeatable incumbent. The idea of campaigning when there's no prospect of winning sounds attractive to Redford's character, and he goes around saying whatever he wants. Well (spoiler alert) a bunch of things happen. And he ends up winning. The last scene shows him trying to talk to his advisor as throngs of reporters and others converge on him. He says, "What do I do now?" but the advisor can't hear him and he mouths the same question, which the movie leaves unanswered.

It's a moment often pops into my mind in times of transition. It fits well with my general orientation, which is that the most important question to ask one's self at any moment is "Where am I and what am I doing?" I know it sounds stupid. It's not stupid though, it's simple. In a good way. It's also extremely helpful and instructive if you're genuine about it. What's the situation? What's my objective? How am I going to try to achieve it?

Once I'm finished grading papers and writing report cards, I'll get on with the summer. I'm traveling a bit this summer, two weeks in England and a week in Lake Placid. I also want to see my friends. When I think about what things upset me at the moment, one of the big ones is how infrequently I see my friends. I really need to do something about that. And maybe I really will this time.