As a senior, I sit down and start to think about how far I have come. It feels like just yesterday I was a freshman on this campus, trying to find my way around. Oh, and of course, trying to make new friends.
I remember having this overwhelming feeling of a new beginning, a new start. Something that I have never experienced, as I have been to the same tiny little school my entire life.
Nothing had prepared me for what this new beginning was. Neither one of my parents went to college, nor did they have any idea how to even apply to college, let alone did I ever even have the experience of touring a college campus. However, I knew it was where I was meant to be. I even had thought one night about any other option I could take to avoid college, and nothing ever came to mind. So, I just knew it was my calling and my place to be.
College had given me independence, taught me how to do everything on my own. As much as my parents have drilled this into me growing up, something about living away from your parents makes you have so much more independence.
I learned to balance my social life and academic life, learned that putting in the effort gets you good grades.
I figured out that I wasn’t really the party type of person and would rather spend time with friends at home.
I realized that you gain and lose friends as the years go on. This one was ultimately the hardest, as I have a hard time parting from people.
And finally, I realized that life is what you make of it. Celebrating those little things can be one of the best things a person can do.
I sit here writing this, proud of the person I have grown into, proud of never giving up even when school got hard, proud of letting people go that were not good for me, proud of knowing I get to where a cap and gown and walk across a stage in just a few months.
In just a few months, I won’t be bothering my roommate when she is trying to sleep, I won’t be sitting in a classroom until 3 am just to get work done, I won’t be eating every meal with my friends, and I won’t be finding any excuses I can to not go to my classes.
But in just a few months, I will be looking for my future job, buying my wish list full of classroom supplies, preparing to be a teacher for the first time, and learning how to manage a new lifestyle all over again.
But what I can say is that college has been good to me, and my future as a teacher will be good to me too, even with the hardships that come with it. I know I can make myself proud just like I have been throughout college.