Today, I am no longer a senior in college.
Today, I packed my bag for the last time — my laptop, my journal, and my water bottle, all littered with stickers I’ve collected over the past three and a half years. It’s hard to believe that I’m wrapping up the end of my college career — where has the time gone?
Looking back on these past few years, I’m proud of all I have accomplished during my time here at CU Boulder. Completing a major in psychology with three minors — business, public health, and creative technology & design — while graduating a semester early, to winning my business capstone my sophomore year, and writing and defending my honors thesis this past fall.
I’ve grown so much, I’ve changed so much. I don’t think my freshman year self would recognize me upon first glance. I thought I knew so much at 18, when the world was my oyster and I had no one to answer to but myself. Yet here I am, at 22, older, but not any wiser than I used to be, knowing even less than before.
But, I’m proud of who I’ve become over the past few years, the lessons I’ve learned. I’ve found myself and the people I call home, even when home no longer means the city of Boulder. I’ve failed time and time again, but I picked myself up, determined to prove that my failures don’t define me. I’ve forgiven not only the people who did me wrong, but myself. Most importantly, I’ve learned who I am, and who I want to be: compassionate, resilient, brave (especially when I don’t want to be), and authentic.
Today, I say goodbye to certainty. I no longer know what my next adventure will be, a terrifying thought for someone who relies on plans. For now, I know that I will do what I’ve been looking forward to since my sophomore year — a chance to learn, not from professors, but from life itself.
This journey has been incredible, filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But I survived, I came out the other end stronger. I do not know what my next adventure will be yet nor what I pursue as a career, but more than ever, I’m excited to find out. I can’t wait for my next beginning.
So this is my final goodbye — to my college career, to my childhood, to everything I thought I knew.
This is the end of my beginning.
For those of you who want to keep up with me as I navigate my new beginning, find me on substack.