Four years. That’s all you get.
Well that’s all I got.
I left my parents house four years ago scared of the future and scared of if I had made the right decision. Would I be ok on my own? Would I make it through the winter that everyone had been warning about?
I did. I was. I am. I did it four times.
This place bore witness to the hardest four years of my life. The lowest lows and the highest highs I ever could’ve imagined. I came here unsure of who I am as a person. I was unsure if I would ever be able to have friends like the ones I grew up with. What about this random girl I was about to be stuck in a 10×10 room with? What if she was weird and we hated each other? Worse what if she was dirty!
The first time I had a class in Anne Belk I cried because I couldn’t figure out why the numbering didn’t make any sense. Walking up the hill to Gardner every day, five times a day, seemed horrible at the time but honestly kept the Freshman 15 at bay. (Which was a blessing because having access to endless amounts of Totinos Pizza’s wasn’t the best for my health.) I spent so much time in Walker Hall that I have favorite classrooms. The coffee shop in the library will forever be what I think about as my happy place. (Probably because I can always count on them playing at least one throw-back Drake song) I’ve spent nights on the parkway counting shooting stars and telling James how in love with him I am…and eating a lot of Chipotle. The snow isn’t as magical as it was four years ago, it’s more of a pain at this point if I’m being honest. But nothing in this world will beat the feeling of your first real snow up here. My first snow here me and my two best friends (one being my fiancé) all went to the Football field and drank and had snowball fights and made snow angels.It was one of those cliché college nights that you hope you get to have. It’s also a bonus that I learned how to drive in the snow while I was up here. I learned to hate Michigan regardless of how many years have gone past since we beat them. It still happened. Football games at the Rock were some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life and you honestly can’t beat their hotdogs in the -10 weather.
The professors here can get a bad rap. Some of them truly don’t care about anything but the paycheck but that’s at every school around the world. But once you get a teacher like Dr. Vandyke, Dr. Perrault, Lynn Doorfman or even Chris Patti it’s hard to believe that none of them care about anything but the money. **PSA Professors don’t always make a ton of money** Having relationships with your professors is so important to every part of college. They write the best recommendation letters and can help you get into classes when they’re full. If they really like you they’ll let you rant about your personal problems too. Just some advice for the underclassmen out there.
But the best part of college has been the people so I should thank them too and possibly most of all. Those friendships that I was scared I wouldn’t find. We were all alone when we got here and we all found each other in various ways and instances. That weird girl who was my roommate freshmen year is one of two Maid of Honors in my wedding. I’ll love her no matter what for the rest of my life. I found my soul mate (wifey) she compliments my personality and has been my rock for the last two years. I reconnected with people from High School that I never expected to be close with but I don’t go a day without talking to now. I met the best guy friend I’ve ever known and will forever be grateful for the roles he played in the last four years (but most importantly his love of Hannah Montana.) ((the Migos song not the show.)) The relationships you make in college are what get you through it. Through the all nighters and missing your family. They’re also the ones who you have the most fun with and make sure you get home safe after a wild night. The thought of moving away from the people I’ve spent almost every day of the last four years with is probably the hardest part of it all. Some are moving across the state, some are moving across the country. It’s a weird thing to think about but I’m more grateful for social media every day because of it.
So with 30 days left until graduation I thought it was time to say thank you. Thank you to everyone that got me through the last four years. Thank you to a University that gave me everything I ever wanted and needed. I’m still scared for the future but I’m confident that I am ready for whatever it throws at me (after the last four years there’s no way I wouldn’t be.) I never could’ve guessed that this place would feel as much like home as my hometown but here I am four years in. A reluctant and grateful lover of everything (but the snow) Appalachian State. I’ll do my best to not cry every day between now and graduation but I can’t really make any promises. Luckily I have enough work to keep me busy between now and then so maybe I’ll be ok until the last week of class.
So thank you Appalachian State, a thousand times.
Sources:
Giphy.com
Appalachian State Athletics