Matt Matteson

The 104 by 107 foot Colorado School of Mines “M” on the side of Mount Zion is the single largest illuminated letter in the United States.

Every day the M sits on the mountain watching over Golden. I’ve heard it be compared to the Eye of Sauron in Lord of the Rings, but to me it’s a welcoming feature of my home. Driving home from Denver and Boulder I note when the M comes into sight, “I’m almost home.”

At the end of the semester the M is not lit as an M, but numbers counting down. Usually I ignored the number, my finals never were on Friday so I kept my own tally. Tonight the lights on Mount Zion read “4″, and I’m paying close attention. The count is finally my tally; When the lights shine the blocky zero I’ll know there is not another final exam or another final project.

On Friday December 12, sometime after 9:30 AM I’ll be wondering across the stage collecting my fancy piece of paper. A paper that means my 16 years of public education are over. A paper that means a deep breath, weight off my shoulders, and a new heading.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at Dec 09, 08 | 1:55 am and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.