I think everyone at Moravian has earned the right to be burned out. Calling this semester hard is an understatement if there ever was one. Aside from the HUB demolition, reduced spaces, everything being pushed to PPHAC (or PPHub depending on your preference), and the new changes to class schedules, it has been so hard to find solace amidst the insanely disorienting changes to the campus.
These feelings certainly intensified when I listened to Twenty One Pilots’ latest single, Next Semester. I never thought I could make a Moravian connection to a Twenty One Pilots song of all things but here we are. In all seriousness, I didn’t think a song could be as fitting as this one to describe this semester. I usually review albums but this will be one of the rare instances where I dedicate an entire article to a single song.
You have a string of lyrics that embody the jarring, unsettling changes: “Can you die of anxiousness?” “What’s about to happen?” “There’s a pressure in my chest.” Since the start of the semester, there has been a time crunch with everything. The pressure has been brewing deep within all of us and manifested intensely. This semester certainly felt shorter and nothing seemed to be slowing down. In every sense of the word, it has felt extremely claustrophobic.
Twenty One Pilots, in their typical angsty fashion, encapsulate this anxiety and the unwelcoming adrenaline that comes with change. There is a pressure in our chests because – and this is very cliched to say – change is scary. Diving head-first into change feels like diving into shark-infested waters. You can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen or how you’ll be able to handle it.
The song ends with the sentiment, “Start fresh next semester.” I think this is a really profound statement that the song steers towards. No, you can’t exactly go back and restart this semester even if you wanted to – and trust me, I don’t think there has been a moment where I didn’t want that. But, that means that it can go up from here. With time, we can adjust and start anew in the fall. I won’t try to make this a motivational speech on how things will be looking up as long as we all “believe” really hard but I will say that in this final stretch of the semester, we know how to tackle the next one. Of course, we have the right to still not be satisfied but we’re learning to adapt and learn what is in our control and the things we still can look forward to and cling to dearly.
