With final exams just around the corner, many students are feeling the end of semester pressures build. But for some seniors at The University of Memphis, summer is the light at the end of the tunnel.
Luke Jimmerson, senior English major, is one of many students that will be freed of the stresses of student life - he will graduate in May.
"I'm gonna party!" he said, jokingly. "Not really. I'm going to be working."
Jimmerson plans to start the teaching certification program this summer, he said, but with teaching jobs hard to come by, his plans have changed.
Although his path is uncertain, he said he looks forward to spending time with his family.
"I know I'm going to take some art classes at The Art House with my daughter," Jimmerson said. "She's six-years-old. That should be fun."
Some students who are graduating next month may have vacations on their horizons.
Betsy Wine, senior non-profit major, is celebrating her graduation with a two-week trip to Costa Rica with her boyfriend.
"I went last March and have wanted to go back ever since," she said.
They bought a vacation package from an Internet Web site that included airfare, hotel vouchers and a rental car, but haven't made any plans for while they're there, she said.
"I know we're gonna try and surf, because neither of us have done it before," Wine said. "Costa Rica is so small. We're just gonna drive around and try to see the whole country."
Those aren't the only plans Wine has for the summer. She wants to relocate and find a job with a non-profit organization, she said.
"I want to move to New Orleans, so I'm hoping to find a job down there," she said.
But not all seniors have finished their time as college students.
Oliver Everette, senior English major, found out late last semester that he has to take his last class over the summer and will graduate in August instead of May.
"I tried to take the extra class this semester, but I already had a full schedule and they wouldn't let me take an overload," he said.
Although Everette is taking an online class, he said it is not letting it get him down.
"My graduation party starts May 4," he said. "I've got an 8 a.m. class and then it's on."
After changing her major, senior history major Lauren Pate won't be graduating until May 2007. Still, she plans to take classes over the summer to help lighten her course load during her last year of school.
"I'm going to be taking Spanish classes at Southwest (Tennessee Community College)," she said.
She added that she wants to use the summer to get a head start on her past education expenses, she said.
"I'm also going to be working ... a lot," she said. "I'd like to start paying my student loans off early."
But Pate hopes to squeeze a little bit of fun into her summer, she said.
"I might go to St. Louis for a weekend and go to Six Flags," she said. "But I'm not sure. I'm not taking student loans next semester, so I really need to be saving up money as much as I can."
