I took my graduation photos a week ago. I completed my final bar crawl. My mom keeps calling to finalize plans for graduation weekend, and I just started my last week of classes.
Graduation came a lot faster than I thought. I don’t know why I assumed this semester would go by slower than the last few years.
Every year, the semesters go by in the blink of an eye.
Time is so funny. One day, you’re 8 years old, and waiting all day to play with your favorite toy feels like a lifetime. The next day, you’re about to graduate college. It feels like I just moved into my freshman dorm.
Everyone says these years go by quickly, but why didn’t I listen? Why did I think I had all the time in the world? How could I be so silly?
I always wanted to go to Penn State. It was my dream growing up. I strictly wore Penn State shirts, and my family came up every year for games or visited my cousins when they were students.
It feels like just this past August I was a scared 18-year-old trying to find Bigler Hall. Saying goodbye to my parents felt like the end of the world that day, but there is something so special about first stepping onto campus as a student.
There’s a mix of excitement and nervous pings in your stomach knowing that you’re stepping into the next stage of finding yourself and being equally terrified of what is to come.
The campus feels so big when you get here. You get lost and walking from one end to the other takes ages. It’s such a scary feeling but one that I would give anything to have back.
I would love to go back and repeat my first night in my dorm, my first shower in the communal bathrooms, my first meal at the dining hall and the first time I walked to class.
It’s four years later, and now it feels like my world will end when I say bye to Penn State.
I will never walk past Old Main early in the morning on the way to class, cram for finals in the library, see my friends as they go to class or be a student here again. Penn State gave me the best friendships I’ve ever known and the best experiences.
Looking back, I will cherish these past four years. I’ll probably be that annoying mom or aunt who always tells stories about her time in college.
I came to college terrified. I wished I could’ve lived in the comfort zone of high school for the rest of my life. Who knew that I would soon feel that way about Penn State?
I have never been so sad to leave a place behind. I started my final week of classes this week and am taking my final steps on campus as a student.
I never want to leave. But I also know that I never would’ve had the best four years of my life if I hadn’t left my comfort zone, so who knows what else is in store?