While there are numerous reasons to be grateful for our superb university, there are many more to give thanks for the end of the academic year.

With the rolling Palouse hills, the impressive architecture around campus, and the countless social and academic opportunities offered to students, Pullman is a great place to go to school. Although the university offers a summer session that gives students the chance to stick around, the majority take the season off to complete an internship, work or just get out of the area.

On the other hand, some scholars have been counting down the days to Saturday, when they finally don their tasseled caps and cross the stage of Beasley Coliseum.

Entering the real world will shock many recent graduates from Washington State who have long forgotten the obstacles that lay beyond the safe haven that is Pullman. Some Cougar alumni will be perplexed upon entering society, much like Tom Hanks at the end of “Castaway.”

This is the first reason we are thankful for the end of the academic year: to celebrate the achievement of the individuals who will graduate. Graduating college is an accomplishment that should not be taken lightly and should be reveled in to the fullest — which future WSU alumni will not have a problem doing.

Next, we must be thankful for the end of the school year for the gorgeous summer weather that has arrived. It has been a chilly spring in Pullman, so Cougars are looking forward to basking in the sun. Whether you will be in Pullman, on the west side, or elsewhere in the world, you are likely in for a meteorological treat.

Washington State students will also show appreciation for the end of late study sessions at the library, cramming for finals and speed-typing essays due at midnight. Gone are the days of running on the fumes of your third Red Bull while trying to complete that project for your law class you have procrastinated on for two and a half months. Unless you are taking summer courses, then you can look forward to more nights of Top Ramen and Mountain Dew Code Red while analyzing the effects Basquiat’s catalog has in inspiring a generation of hip-hop.

You can also be thankful to have the opportunity to go on adventures with friends or family. Summer is the perfect time of year to try something different, make a new friend or go somewhere you have never been.

Lastly, WSU students should be happy the school year is over because it means you succeeded in completing something you set out to do, however miniscule it may seem. While May is not the end of the road for all Cougars’ time in Pullman, it is the end of this chapter in our book, until August where we will be met with fresh faces and minds ready for molding.

Chris Arneson is a senior sports management major from Bothell. He can be contacted at [email protected].