As I’m quickly approaching graduation, I can’t help but look back upon my years here at WVU. Knowing that my days here are almost over, I’m having trouble getting ready to leave. While I’m sad and a little scared, I feel prepared to go out into the “real” world, and I can thank WVU for that.
As a freshman, I couldn’t believe that in just four short years I would be ready to be an adult and have to find a big girl job. And as a freshman, I didn’t have an idea about a lot of things. I had no idea how much WVU would mean to me, no idea that I would have so much and especially no idea that I wouldn’t be ready to leave after four years. But to be honest, I didn’t have a lot of ideas about anything. As I look back, there are a lot of things I wish I could have known then.
I wish I knew I would change my major. I had no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life as an 18-year-old. It took me a while to figure that out, but here I am.
I wish I knew that it would be hard living on my own. I learned quite quickly that in order to survive I had to learn how to cook and clean up after myself. There is a huge transition from high school to college and it would have been nice to be more prepared for that.
I wish I knew how hard college would be. College is very hard. There is nothing easy about the amount of information your brain has to soak up for the countless amount of exams you have to pass. I remembering panicking the first time my professor told me there were no study guides for exams. “Then what am I supposed to study?”
I wish I knew what friendships were worth keeping. Throughout my years here, I’ve found out who my true friends are and who is going to me there for me always. As a freshman, I had no idea who would be in my life right now. There are people who come and go in your life, and it would have been nice to know who were true friends to begin with.
I wish I knew that I would know the WVU campus like the back of my hand. I remembering for a solid 2 years at WVU I had a sense of panic when it came to navigating around campus. Some people would mention a building I had never heard of before and I’d think, “Am I ever going to feel comfortable here?” Well freshmen, you will, eventually.
I wish I knew that living in a dorm would be rewarding. Living in a small square room with another person might seem like hell, but you will learn a lot from it. It’s important to learn how to get along with another person even though they leave hair in the shower and steal your clothes without asking. My dorm experience was very memorable and sometimes I find myself missing it, only sometimes.
I wish I knew that while college seems like it is going slow, it is actually going very fast.
I swear I blinked and I’m ready to graduate. Looking at the classes I’ve taken, it’s overwhelming that I completed that many. It literally seems like just yesterday I was moving to Morgantown for the very first time. Take everything in and enjoy every minute it of it because it will be gradation time before you know it.
While it might seem like I wish I knew a lot, I’ve learned even more and I think that outweighs each other. I’m more than satisfied with my years here at WVU. I’ve found a place that feels like home and friends that feel like family. While it will be very hard to leave, I’m a lucky girl to be a Mountaineer, and that is something I’ve known since day one.