Stephen Yeargin

I’ve taken up chess. Not as a competitive hobby, but as a game on my Mac mini. I suppose it is a bit more wholesome than Quake 4, but I only find it enjoyable when I can win. That is something I can never seem to do at the high-intensity shooters, and I experience only a moderate amount of success at sport sims.

I’ve discovered that the iMac G5s in the foreign language lab are still impossible to beat even if set to the lowest level of difficulty. Perhaps I lack the mental capacity to reason against a computer. Go figure.

The title comes from Dave Matthews Band‘s “Listener Supported” album, as well as the namesake for a subsequent solo album by lead-vocal Boyd Tinsley. I recently purchased tickets to the August 16 show at Starwood Amphitheatre. I’m fairly psyched about it, although most people I talk tend to play it down as a “great show, but nothing compared to the one I saw in X city on his north American tour.” This would be my first.

Thanks to iTunes, I now own every studio album. Sweet.

I had never attended a live music event (outside of a church service) until moving to Nashville. We went to River Stages for a couple of years before it was cancelled. Now that Dancin’ in the District has been dropped as well, one has to wonder if the era of the outdoor music festival has come to an end.

Then again, Bonnaroo grows every year. The folks in Manchester have to love that (well, at least if they work in hotels, Wal-Mart or gas stations). I’m quickly leaving the time in my life when walking around with sweaty, buzzed college kids is socially acceptable. I can find a bit of comfort in knowing that it becomes accepted again when I get into my late fifties. Who knows if the music, much less the outdoors, will be the same by the time that happens?

Two issues of the newspaper remain between “Editor Emeritus” and I. I have shifted focus to planning for these final two issues as a batch, much like we did to close out the fall semester. I’ve found that if you can get a group to think ahead a bit, the intermediate and final products improve. My other reason is a bit more selfish. I just want the process to end on a high note.

The questions of “What’s next for you?” have risen from a murmur to a rock concert. I never really mind the question; it’s the answer I struggle with. I’ve lined up every Internet job search and placement service I can muster. All that is left is to write that awe-inspiring cover letter and broadcast the resumes out to prospective employers. The sense of urgency has grown of late, as I (meaning Samantha) signed up for my final class of my undergraduate career.

Career. There’s a loaded word. Speaking of reflections, I have to somehow hammer out a senior column long enough to be the “final word” on my college career. The fun part likely will not be finding the words to say, but figuring out how to put them in under a 700-800 word limit. Otherwise, I will be jockeying for position with two, perhaps three other graduating seniors. Who am I to cut short their final words?

My approach to the column will not be typical. I never liked the “shout out” column that has filled our final edition over the years. Why bother? Chances are, you will lose touch with the people you raise up in print within a year of putting it on paper. At the same time, there’s a fair bit I have left to say about what I’ve seen and heard. My goal is to strike a balance between the sarcasm that inevitably will find its way into it, while still keeping a positive connotation to this “career” I am leaving behind.

We can’t do this forever. In a perfect world, I could keep all the good times and all the praises and ditch all of the struggles. I am moving through the varying stages of grief for my dying college experience with lightning speed. At this rate, I’ll be at “acceptance” by the end of the week. It is time to move above and beyond.