Around this time of year, I normally tally up the amount of gas money needed to get home for the Kentucky Derby. But this year, I’m tallying up the amount of finals that are keeping me from enjoying this Kentucky holiday with friends and family.

I should be in the throes of senioritis right now, but I find myself questioning UK’s decisions one more time.

Like many other UK students I’ve spoken with, I’m finding it hard to understand why UK is ending a week later than it has in years past, pushing our finals into Derby weekend.

To perform proper research for this column, I emailed a vast array of people trying to find out who was in charge of the scheduling — the University Senate.

Don’t worry, this isn’t the student senate that we elected a few weeks ago. I’m sure if it were up to them, we’d be in class once a week every month.

I can’t help but wonder what the University Supreme Court of law students would have to say if that were the case.

After wading through the official jargon, it became very clear that they were keeping in line with the parameters that UK has set out for our campus calendar. With this in mind, I again applaud UK for sticking to its guns in the face of student ire (here’s looking at you tailgating rules).

But these parameters are keeping me from going home for the Derby.

Instead of decorating an elaborate hat, I’m dusting off a freezer burn-riddled Derby Pie I had been saving for a rainy day.

Derby is not the only thing that UK’s scheduling of this school year has stolen from me.

This was the first year in my college career that I have not gone on spring break with my best friend who attends the University of Louisville.

I may be one of the few UK students who had this problem, but I’m sure I’m not the only one affected by the subtle bragging that every UofL kid has been throwing down now that they’re out of school.

Sure, we were just as smug while we enjoyed our week-late start in the fall. But frankly, I would much rather start in mid-July if that means I can be home in time for Thunder Over Louisville, a firework show in downtown Louisville.

Whether this scheduling was a subtle dig at Louisville, or simply just abiding by the rules of UK, I can’t help but hope this will be the last year we are forced to miss one of the few things for which Kentucky is known.

It’s a heck-of-a-lot more inspiring than missing school for the only other Kentucky export — Kentucky Fried Chicken.