Saturday I turned twenty-five and took my first final exam of the year. Which sounds like it would be pretty miserable, but it worked out remarkably well. By 10:30 AM I was done with everything chemistry related for at least the next 24 hours.

Of course you can take the girl out of the chem. class, but it’s much harder to take the chem. class out of the girl.* Eight hours later found us attempting to organize picnic tables out front of a local restaurant and talking about…chemistry? And physics, and bio, and the exam, and the upcoming semester and…well, you get the idea. After doing almost nothing but eat sleep and live science for the past four weeks, it was hard to think of much else to talk about.

Today is my reset day; a day when I can clean and shop and wind myself back up for another four weeks of immersion. It feels a little like the slow ride to the top of a roller coaster you just got off of; the gut anticipation isn’t quite as intense as the first time around but your brain knows that the ride will be just as crazy.

*I’m twenty-five, can I still refer to myself as a girl? I keep expecting to wake up some morning and feel like and adult, but so far no dice.