Mary Madormo

So, the time has come.  This Saturday I will put on that cap and gown, cross the stage and be able to call myself a college graduate.  This marks the moment I will enter the so-called “real world,” full of 9-to-5 days and 10 p.m. bedtimes.  It seems absolutely terrifying.

But recently when I was reflecting on this big jump into adult life, I realized that the real world doesn’t just happen after I’m handed the diploma—it’s today, yesterday, the past four years.

After high school it was relatively easy to leave and start a new life, making new friends and tending to lose touch with a few of the old ones.  It was easy to forget about wearing uniforms and enjoy my culottes-free college wardrobe. 

I think this is what has terrified me about graduating.  I didn’t want to forget about my college friends and memories—both good and bad—when I left this college world to become an “adult.”  But let’s be honest—these separate worlds don’t exist.  I do not go from being a college student to being an adult the day after graduation.  Seriously, I already go from watching Disney movies in my pajamas and wishing I still had a Tamagotchi to telling everyone that my vision isn’t what it used to be and starting every sentence I say about freshmen with, “Well, in my day…”   And that is never going to change.

And just like that will never change, neither will my friendships and memories from college.  Next Sunday I can still talk to my roommates and absolutely will…every day.  I won’t forget these past four years but will be proud that they have made me who I am today.  I have had an amazing college experience and do not want it to be over.  I want to stay in Hagen and see my roommates every day.  I want to complain about café food a little longer.  I want more WNT’s.  But as much as I want all of that, I also know that it’s time.