Return to Normalcy

It's 6:40 PM. She's out the door, fast, box cradled in arms. The torch has been passed. Twenty more minutes...

And it's finally over.

The Intel Science Talent Search is perhaps the worst possible thing a person could do to himself. The work is difficult, the process is stressful, and despite how hard one works, there is no guarantee that he is going to win. And even though we can each say, "Wow, I did get a lot out of this," there's no denying the fact that we're all going to be at least a little disappointed if we did not win at least something.

However, I don't think the program's unique circumstance of being a four-year course has ever been more obvious, and today, we may have actually became a family. Nine of us scrambling, fingers typing, papers flying, all were taking place in the small space that is the research room. Through the mist of pending chaos, we helped each other through and we all made it to the end. The difficulty brought us together, forced us to rely on each other, and as a result, all boundaries were crossed despite time ticking mercilessly on.

But we did it. We finished, and the completion brings about a close and a return to normalcy. No more skipping class. No more abnormal candy ingestion. No more unusual and unnecessary stress.

But as I look around the confines of my own room, thinking about the work I've missed and how much work I have left to do, I wonder if perhaps normalcy was not what I sought after all.