Word of the Day: Whirlwind

I am going to start doing some blog posts where I ask a friend to give me a word and then I write a post about it. The word I was given today, “whirlwind.”

The definition of a “whirlwind” according to dictionary.com is

noun

1. any of several relatively small masses of air rotating rapidly around a more or less vertical axis andadvancing simultaneously over land or sea, as a dust devil, tornado, or waterspout.

2. anything resembling a whirlwind, as in violent action or destructive force.

3. any circling rush or violent onward course.

adjective

4. like a whirlwind, as in speed or force: a whirlwind visit to New York.

verb (used without object)

5. to move or travel quickly.

But the word to me means something a tad different; a tad more like a metaphor if you will. When I think of the word “whirlwind” I think of it in the sense as a range of emotions and someone not being able to figure out exactly how they’re feeling at a specific moment. Or when something happens so fast that it was “like a whirlwind.”

For example, my first semester of college went by so fast it was just a whirlwind of events as I reflect on everything I’ve done. And now that I’m in the first week of my second semester, I’m feeling a whirlwind of emotions because I’m happy to be back but my class schedule is definitely going to present new challenges to me.

Make sense?

I thought so. I don’t feel like I can really say too much else on this word so I’ll just leave it up to you: what does “whirlwind” mean to you?