Well, the end of the spring semester is a week away. In the past during this time of the semester, I would have been studying and daydreaming of the summer days ahead of me. However, since I am a senior this year, this last month has been a reminder that the end of college is inevitable.
The four years of high school seemed to drag on. I vividly remember sitting in a desk at tiny Galva-Holstein High School, anxiously awaiting the day I would finally never have to report back to this place. College was a nirvana just on the horizon waiting for me. I had three older sisters, I knew what college entailed and I was ready.
I think back to the day I moved into 903 Dancer Hall. I was freshly 19 and ready for life. I thought I knew everything and was so ready to become my own independent adult. My, how time flies.
College is billed as one of the best experiences of your life. You get to meet new friends, enroll in classes that actually interest you and take advantage of countless opportunities that you might not have been able to otherwise.
As time goes on, I have lost contact with many of my high school peers, but my college friends mean so much more to me. We have gone through experiences together, lived together and shared the same frustrations that college comes with sometimes. Now, we are all sharing the same frustration of having no idea where we are heading next.
Let me be frank, job-searching sucks. It takes up a lot of your time. Quickly, you start to realize how self conscious you are of your academic and professional experience and when you send out 80 resumes without getting a single call back, it is discouraging.
My friends here at UNI and the faculty I have been privileged to learn from will always remain at the core of who I am today. In a way ,college is like a four-year, life boot camp. You navigate your way through school, friendships, relationships, personal matters and so on. There are a lot of times where you get pushed down and feel hopeless, but it is just preparing you for life.
I do not know how I am going to eat lunch without the convenience of charging it to my u-bill. I certainly do not know how I am going to be expected to get out of bed every morning at a decent time. However, I do know one thing: UNI has shaped me to become the best person I can be and I am so honored to have been a student here for four years.
No matter where I end up in life, I will always have the values I have acquired while attending this institution. The university was able to do a lot of great things while I was here, and I am so proud to call UNI my school.
I am going to be even prouder to call UNI my alma mater. It is not goodbye UNI, it is see you soon.
