Dates. Life is filled with important dates. Such as, your birthday, important holidays, your anniversary, formal dances, and so on. Recently, however, there is only one date that keeps showing its face- graduation date. Up to this point in life, college graduation has simply been the butt to all jokes. “I need to get this paper done if I want to graduate college” or “If I don’t study for this exam, there is no way I’m going to graduate” or the personal favorite, “What are your plans after graduation?”
Regardless of how it was brought up in the past, graduation date never seemed to be one of the dates that was worth worrying about…Until now. With the school year coming to an end, graduation is creeping upon everyone. So, the topic that used to be tossed into the back of everyone’s minds is now finding a way to be brought up in every conversation possible. “Where are you going to live after graduation? Do you want to go to grad school Do you have any jobs lined up? How are you going to pay off your loans?” The list goes on and on and on.
In my opinion, graduation is supposed to be a time of celebration and partaking in commemorating moments. Not capstone classes, senior research proposals, and spending countless hours in the library. We are going about this all wrong. College is the last time in our life where it is acceptable to sleep in until noon, walk in public wearing our slippers, and having four months off to simply celebrate the fact that its summer. So why not live it out until the very last second?
Don’t get me wrong, sending out what seems to be about 15 resumes and cover letters a week to about 15 different employers is very taxing, but that is not what it should all be about. What it is really about is balance. Find a way to get half of your portfolio done AND go out for margaritas with your friends. Manage your time so that you can play in the most epic game of spike ball of the semester AND finish that book report you have been putting off. Do both. If you spend the last months of your college career in your dorm room studying and blocking out the natural sunlight, you will regret it.
Yes, it is crucial to get your work done, but there is more to it than that. Use your last semester to squeeze in some more fun times with your friends and make memories you will never forget. After all, college is supposed to be the best time of your life, right?