As my final semester of my undergraduate career slowly comes to a close, I have so much to be thankful for.
As I reflect on the past four years, I realize how difficult it is to express how I feel about my time spent here. How can I sum up four years of my life into a few paragraphs? All the study days and the midterm daze? How could I possibly transport my reader to understand the simple beauty of all the quiet fall afternoons spent outside reading books for class? The precious weeks in October when all the trees on campus begin to turn colors and glow? Or the first snowfall that you watch outside your tutorial window? Or when the sunshine finally peaks its face through the clouds at the end of March and the collective student body releases a sigh of relief because summer will come again?
What about the study sessions with friends that meld into conversations and catch-ups? How can I effectively capture the hours spent in Mills, eyes blurred and burning from the hours of homework? What about the feeling of listening to your professors sharing information that they dedicated their life to understanding and feeling their passion spark your own?
I suppose the beauty of it all is that there is no way I ever could.
I am also not sure that I should.
Four years of anyone’s life can never be summarized in a few sentences. Too much has happened. Too many joys, cries, big ideas, lonely moments, and simple reflections have occurred for me to even want to try to sum it up. The past four years of my life have been wonderful, and the complexities of it all will never be adequately summarized. McMaster has been a huge part of my life, but it has not become my life.
I am grateful for everyone and everything that has shaped me over the last four years. I am thankful to all the professors who shared their wisdom with me about class material and otherwise. I am thankful for all the friendships that have grown, the lectures that have shaped me, and the opportunities I have had to be creative. I am grateful to my book club and to HerCampus McMaster for encouraging me to stay creative and connect with my hobbies. I am grateful to my parents for always encouraging and supporting me and endlessly thankful for my husband who has always been my biggest cheerleader.
My undergraduate career is scheduled to close in a few weeks. In April, I will write my final exam at McMaster. In June, I will graduate. In September, I will feel nostalgic for this time in my life; the campus vibrant and alive, full of nervous first years and already-tired third years.
Four years is a long time, but it is not that long. Enjoy it :)