The smell of burnt coffee grounds, sorrow, joy and a hint of salty tears linger across campus as students brace themselves for a long week of cramming for finals, and professors grade late work as a one last favor. 

However, as the year finally reaches an end, and students chug those unhealthy amounts of coffee, it feels invigorating to imagine hanging up our boots at last and clocking out for a few weeks, without a care in the world.

Granted, it is acceptable to believe that most of what this campus needs is a moment of peace and to regroup after a semester’s worth of painful assignments and annoying group projects.

Yes, during a time for Yuletide cheer we feel that everyone deserves a much-needed break, but that does not mean all the work that was started this semester just goes away.

Though the year may end and we finally receive the solitude we have been wishing for since the start of the semester, the staff at The Daily Eastern News would like to remind the campus community that the work should not be forgotten and will soon pick up where everyone left off the moment 2018 drags everyone back to campus.

For students, this means coming back to classes with projects, tests and assignments that need taken care of. For faculty and staff, that means coming back to meetings and other forms of university service that are still in progress.

One example of this is the Workgroup Review Committee, whose last meeting of the semester was detailed in Monday’s issue of The Daily Eastern News.

By agreeing to be a part of Workgroup Review Committee, those faculty members agreed to a load of responsibility that places the future success of the university in their hands.

The rest of the campus community deserves to be regarded as a high priority and we encourage those faculty members to remember everything discussed at the meetings thus far and to continue to think about all else that might be necessary for the Jan. 15 deadline.

Of course, we do not wish to ruin anyone’s holiday by asking them to work over break. Rather, we just suggest that the thoughts and discussions of previous meetings remain in everyone’s mind over break and are not tossed aside. Do not let these topics plague your minds, but at the same time do not let them slip away until classes resume Jan. 6.

This is important subject matter and the university deserves to be a priority, and we feel it should be treated as such.

Though we agree that everyone deserves a break, we also want to remind our peers as well as the university administration and faculty members to help better the university and continue thinking about the school’s best interest.