It feels like there should be some sort of final wrap-up, some last-day-of-class wisdom. But, just like the end of every semester, I don’t have any sort of grand conclusion to offer. A sad, painful thing happened. Many of us have felt, and will continue to feel, the consequences.

There’s no quick fix, no glorious new dawn tomorrow. There’s so much work to do, so many cracks exposed that have existed for so long. My hope is that we’ll start to do the work, that we’ll figure out how to at least look at and talk about our collective problems.

Personally, I hope to be restored to myself. I know I’ve had a shorter fuse, been more on edge, quicker to lecture than to listen. I haven’t played enough, I’ve been more sarcastic, I’ve told fewer jokes, I’ve been worried and guarded.

I know that tomorrow won’t be the day everything turns around; we won’t wake up, breathe more easily, and change for the better. But I do feel confident that the coming years won’t be as painful and as costly as these 4 years have been. And there’s a real relief in that feeling.