It’s that time of the semester where everything starts moving so fast you don’t even have time to breathe. Every year the spring semester goes so quickly it feels like it barely even happened. March flies by faster than any month– you have spring break, St. Patrick’s day, midterms, and then all of a sudden it’s almost over. The last month of school is a whirlwind for everyone, but when you’re a senior, it’s pretty much surreal. It seems like the spring semester goes by so fast every year, for seniors, it’s like… Literally what happened with these four years? Relief, nostalgia, and panic ensue all at once.
On top of doing the work for all of your classes (yeah, that whole idea that the second semester of senior year is a breeze if you make your schedule right is a myth-– RIP to anyone writing a Senior Thesis), everyone is rushing to apply to grad schools, jobs, or whatever else they want to do after undergrad. No one wants to be living with their parents after graduation, but let’s be real, like everyone lives with their parents at least for a little bit. If you think the race to get college acceptances during senior year of high school was bad… welcome to the job search, kiddos.
There’s an impending sense of emptiness at the end of senior year, because at college there’s always something to do whether it be with classes or even just hanging out with your friends who live right next door, and then all of a sudden once you graduate there’s going to be a whole lot of nothing to do unless you fill your time right. The people you’re used to seeing everyday aren’t going to be there anymore, like your roommates, the friends you eat lunch with daily, your go-to professors who have helped you through it all, and even the lady at the coffee shop who has your order memorized at this point. Seniors start to realize that soon they won’t see those people everyday, and some of them they might not even see ever again.
Once you realize your time at college is coming to an end, there’s also an intense pressure to do those things that you always said you were going to do in college. This means hitting every local bar that you haven’t been to yet, partying with your senior class every waking free moment, spending all of your last meal plan dollars (hellooooo C Store), committing a whole day to playing beer pong outside with friends, going to local breakfast spots, going to all of the sporting events you can, etc. If you haven’t done it yet, you’ll be scrambling to do all of those fun college things while you still can. You register for all of the senior week events and try to pack everything in that you can to make the last month at college the best one yet.
Along with the scramble to do everything you possibly can, your bank account is diminishing at an alarming rate. You’ve never spent so much money on alcohol in your life, but you’re happy to do so if it means another memorable night out with your college friends. You take all the pictures, get a polaroid camera, and try to take Snapchat videos of everything, because you realize that soon you won’t be able to be in your townhouse living room with all of your best friends ever again. You save every memory you can.
Although graduating college is scary and sad at times, it’s a major life accomplishment that shouldn’t be something negative. You’ve worked so hard these four years, so you should be proud of yourself for making it through. The time after graduation is the rest of your adult life. Whether you’re continuing your education or going into the workforce, you have the opportunity to do what you’ve been dreaming of since you’ve been young. It might be a tough journey, but this change is good, so make it the best you can. Even though it’s sad to maybe not be in the same city as your friends anymore, be proud of them too and all of the opportunities ahead of them. There’s so much in the future– new jobs, friends, family, learning opportunities, and more. Seniors, live it up in college while you can, but don’t forget how much is ahead of you.