Thanksgiving break is so close I can almost smell it.

And I don’t smell the aroma of a turkey dinner. I smell the fragrance of freedom, and a break.

I’m sure most of us on campus are ready for a week off. It’s been a long semester, and all of us have invested a lot in our education, as well as our relationships.

With finals coming up and final projects being assigned over Thanksgiving break, students are facing a chronically tense time in our lives.

You gotta love those teachers giving you homework over break – it’s usually reasoning like ‘you have a whole week to yourself to work on this project.’

John Lennon once said, “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”

Something unexpected always happens, ready to throw our lives a new curve ball.

As for me, one of my investments this semester didn’t pay off.

I’d been chatting with a friend online through chat for two years, and we’ve grown pretty close. She lives in Indianapolis, so not far enough away we can’t visit once in a while.

We wanted to get more serious, like most couples. We made plans to go Christmas shopping together, and I wanted to someday count her as my girlfriend when we started dating.

Love is a very special kind of investment. Opening up to your special someone and expressing your feelings for them through your words, actions and decisions – it’s a gamble.

Last Monday she informed me that she had been seeing another guy in town for three months, and felt closer to him. She didn’t want me investing any more love in her because I was too excited.

She said I loved her perhaps too much.

Great. Two years of falling head over heels for her, and she let a two-hour distance end it. I didn’t know until then that I had loved her “too much.”

Okay, you don’t have to say it: long-distance relationships usually don’t work out. But the latter part of the comment disturbs me.

I was willing to move to Indianapolis to be with her if things worked out between us – was it too soon? Too much?

I guess so. Either way, I invested all my heart in loving her. And the thing is, I don’t think I would do anything different.

I could hold back some for caution, but if I’m going to invest my time or heart into something, I’m going all the way.

Coming out of last week’s rejection, I’ve learned not to be afraid of giving it my all, even in the worst of times.

We students are in a tense time in our lives, and most of us are maintaining our own relationships with loved ones.

During our week of break, either alone or together, we can’t forget the investments we’ve made this semester (and in the last several years.) Don’t lose your integrity, your passion, in the final weeks of the year.

Although the week is not nearly over, I hope all of us remember to not give up.

Work hard, rest up, and sleep well.

We’re all in this together.