Moving on after 21 years in the education system isn’t easy. You live each day knowing exactly what’s around the next corner, what your weekly routine will look like, and that your summers will be free for doing whatever you could possibly dream of. College is like a trial run for adulting, but when it comes time to graduate and enter the real world for good, it’s a whole new ball game.
I thought I had experienced my largest transition when moving to college. I was a quiet, unsure, indecisive freshman who was largely a homebody as it was. Living with strangers and making new friends on the fly was daunting, but it was the only way to approach our new surroundings. We were forced to find our footing quickly or risk falling behind.
Luckily, I quickly found my core group of friends. Being part of a living-learning community allowed me to immediately connect with people who viewed college in a similar way to me. This meant homework parties happened often but Bachelor nights were never far behind.
I was also lucky to find an organization that I was proud to be a part of so quickly into my college career. The moment I heard about Epsilon Sigma Alpha from my RA in the lounge of Williams 2B, I was sold. There was no rush process, so my timid self could thrive without being counted out too quickly. And they focused heavily on service throughout the Peoria community rather than how many people they could squeeze into a house on Fredonia. I will admit that I signed up for way too many email lists at the first activities fair, but I’m so glad I decided to read each one that come through from ESA. In just four short years, I have seen this organization grow so much and have seen the growth in myself along side it. It has given me leadership opportunities, a chance to get out of the “Bradley Bubble,” and most importantly, a group of amazing ladies I am lucky to call sisters, no matter how cheesy that sounds.
Since then, I have joined and dropped many organizations on the way to finding where I really wanted to be. The few I end with now are the ones that have defined me the most. They welcomed me, allowed me to grow into myself and challenged me in more ways than one.
Freshman year me would have never – and I really do mean NEVER – had the courage to bring a new organization to campus. I wouldn’t have wanted to reach out to my peers and ask if they would consider being involved in something they had never heard of, with no promises that it would even work out. But junior me did. Granted, it took me all of first semester to prepare myself to actually do it, but I did, and now Her Campus has had three amazing semesters on Bradley’s campus. We have doubled our membership, more than quadrupled the number of articles published, and made priceless connections along the way. As funny as it sounds, this organization feels like my baby. Leaving it behind will be difficult, but part of growing up is letting go. I’m so excited to watch this organization grow and evolve in the hands of some of the most inspiring people I have met in my four years here.
There are countless other memories, people, organizations and classes that I could thank for shaping me, but I didn’t think you would want to read four years worth of journal entries on your screen. Just know that I couldn’t possibly include every thank you that is deserved into one short article, but if you’re reading this, you probably deserve one – so thank you. Whether you are a family member reading this from home, one of my peers I met somewhere along this crazy journey, or someone who just happened to click on a random article on the internet – thank you.
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All this to say: these have been a wild four years in more ways than one. But I think often about how life would be different if I had made a single decision differently along the way. What if I had chosen a different school? What if I had joined a different Greek organization? What if I had gone out every single weeknight to “get the full college experience”? All of these experiences could have taken my life down a completely different path. And maybe some of them would have allowed to me to avoid certain hardships, but they would have come with their own.
Each decision I made to get where I am today shaped me. I don’t regret one decision. I don’t regret one hardship. I don’t regret one rushed essay, one hard exam, or one bad day – because I wouldn’t be me without them.
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To those still in the midst of their college journey: keep your head up. You will have bad days, but that doesn’t mean your path isn’t right for you. You will find yourself here, so just keep moving forward.
To my fellow graduates: whether you have your future planned out or not, you will be okay. Don’t forget the memories you made and don’t you dare regret anything. You are leaving Bradley exactly as you were meant to.