Luke Minor, Senior Director of Postsecondary Affordability, Washington Student Achievement Council
October 7, 2025
If there’s anything that drives me crazy, it’s earworms! You know – those insidious and hopelessly catchy pop songs pumped out of department store overhead speakers with reckless abandon? We’ve all fallen victim to them, and they typically have a knack for making us want to crawl out of our skin.
But every once in a while, one of these sneaky little buggers has a way of worming its way down into my heart to offer a serene moment where everything feels right in the world. A prime example is Semisonic’s classic alt-rock ballad, Closing Time. I’ve had that darn song stuck in my head for days on end, more times than I can count. Yet every time it comes on, I just can’t help but crank it up, bellow along, and enjoy a moment of glee.
It was fitting that Closing Time was released in 1998 – a year defined by the song’s closing line: “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” In 1998, we experienced momentous “beginnings of ends” such as the Seattle Mariners’ last full season in the storied Kingdome and the sobering realization that it was the last year, we could party like it’s 1999 without it being weird and passé. It was also a time of “new beginnings,” such as the launch of a small and inconsequential tech company I’m sure you’ve never heard of…rhymes with “bugle…” But most importantly, to us 529ers here in Washington, 1998 saw the birth of Washington’s first 529 plan – the GET Prepaid Tuition Plan!
While I’ve always liked Closing Time, it was not until recently that I realized that it is, perhaps counterintuitively, an ideal theme song for raising kids and saving for college. Stick with me here. At face value, the song is basically about kicking people out of a bar at, well …closing time. Upon deeper reflection and consultation of the all-knowing Wikipedia, it turns out there’s more going on than meets the eye (err, ear?). For starters, it turns out that the song doubles as a metaphor for a baby being born into the world, as the songwriter was expecting a child while writing the lyrics.
And importantly, throughout the song, we are reminded that coming to an end – whether with something relatively inconsequential and seasonal like the end of summer, or a once-in-a-lifetime moment like high school graduation – doesn’t have to be a time of sadness. Any end is also an opportunity to prepare for a new world of possibilities.
Such is the goal of saving for college and raising a child. We all know time moves in the blink of an eye and only seems to accelerate as the years go by. Along the way, there are unforgettable moments of wonder and triumph as we churn through countless milestones marked simultaneously by tearful goodbyes and inspiring hellos. In the face of it all, it’s important that we take time to pause and reflect, not only to enjoy fleeting moments, but to set goals and take action with intentionality and optimism. [Insert shameless plug to remind you that a fantastic outlet for this intentionality and optimism is to start a 529 account for a child while they’re young and continue making regular contributions over time. It’s never too early to start saving!]
And with that, let’s close out with heeding Semisonic’s semi-philosophic advice that reminds us to plan ahead and support our students in all of their new beginnings to come: ♪♪ “Open all the doors and let you out into the world!” ♪♪
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About the Author
Luke Minor is the Senior Director of Postsecondary Affordability at the Washington Student Achievement Council. In his role, he oversees Washington State’s Education Savings Plans (WA529), which include the GET Prepaid Tuition Plan and WA529 Invest. Since 1998, tens of thousands of students have used more than $2 billion of their WA529 savings to attend colleges in all 50 states and at least 15 foreign countries. In his free time, Luke enjoys getting outside to hike and ride bikes with his wife and rambunctious kindergartner; being terrorized by his new half-border collie, half-velociraptor puppy; and of course, rocking ankle socks while jamming out to all of those late 90s and early 2000s alt-rock classics, in true millennial fashion.