Halfway There, Livin’ On A Prayer

This morning, I finished my last two exams of the semester, and thus ended my sophomore year at Notre Dame. As thrilled as I am to have my exams done and over with, I realized that I am halfway through my undergraduate career and my time at Notre Dame! 

Obviously, this revelation is not as extreme as that of the students who graduate next week! However, I keep thinking, “I can’t be this far into college yet!“ But as much denial I might experience in the next few days, it doesn’t change the fact that I have already spent two years at Notre Dame, with only two to go. This fills me with so many conflicting emotions: excitement, sadness, anxiety, and accomplishment, to name a few. You might say that I am having the collegiate version of a “mid-life crisis.”

For example, I can’t help but wonder if I have spend the last two years of study wisely. Have I accomplished enough so far? Have I seized as many opportunities as possible? Is my resume in the state it should be in by now? It seems that if you go on any social media site, you see all the amazing internships, job, programs and other opportunities that ND students have participated in. It makes me wonder if I’m doing enough to get noticed by future employers. 

Honestly, one of the most stressful realizations of being halfway done is that I will very soon be in working world. This may sound nerdy, but I love going to school! I enjoy constantly learning new things in an academic environment (as long as the subject interested me, which is why taking classes for a specific major instead of FYS was so awesome this year)! 

As part of my journey to the occupation I want (and in order to stay in school longer), I plan on attending graduate school after my time at ND. But now even grad school is on the horizon, and I’ll have to start scoping out possible schools to audition for/apply (I’m a music major). This is both super exciting and super scary!!! It also adds to the feeling that my resume needs to be in really good shape! 

In addition to considering my future beyond ND, I also keep thinking about how much I will miss my time here. The last two years were some of the best in my life– I have learned so much from the professors and other students, and I have learned a lot about myself too. I have also made a lot of new friends who I will really sad to part with after graduation. Also, Notre Dame in itself is just a special place; it’s hard to imagine a better school, or a better home away from home.

But as I think about my time at ND, a familiar Dr. Seuss quote pops into my head: “Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it happened.” True, it’s not over for me yet. I have the wonderful gift of two more years at one of my favorite places on the planet! While I should plan for the future, I also want to enjoy my remaing two years at the undergraduate level. I am so grateful for my time at Notre Dame so far, and I can’t wait to see what the next two years will bring!!!