With my final year at UMass Amherst underway, I am almost forced to spend every day reflecting on my experience as a student and appreciating what UMass has provided me with over the last three years. While The Real World has remained a daunting and distant abstract concept, the reality that it’s less than a year away is sudden, and sets in place the abrupt realization that my time here is drawing to an end. I can’t help but look back at the last few years and consider how much this school has helped guide me to the place I am now.
It goes without saying that many friends you make at college are going to last a lifetime. While a few familiar faces from high school came to UMass, I made most of my current friends in my first semester of freshman year, where we tacitly agreed to spend the rest of our college careers together. I have no clue how I would have survived the burden of exams and papers without the social life I developed with them. Every day this year, I plan to consciously appreciate and value each of them as the end of our college stage of friendship draws to an end.
I remember during my first tour of UMass, the guide mentioned how many resources the university had for all different aspects of college life. The recreation center offered all my needs for exercise and fitness classes. Career services helped me land my internship. The Writing Center reviewed papers I needed help with, and I regained some of my sanity in the process. These are just a few examples of what UMass has given me– I will sincerely miss the access to the various UMass resources, and all the help this school offers.
Another reason I have grown to appreciate UMass is because it offers its students choices in regards to their general education courses, and their majors and minors. The opportunity to have a broad education even within my major and minor has, in turn, diversified my experience here. Despite recalling my frustration in some of these classes, annoyed that I couldn’t study what I wanted, I understand that I gained a broadened education from these classes.
Not to mention, UMass has some of the best campus food in the United States, and most students will agree. During my last year, I am living without a meal plan and making my own food. I’m already missing some of my favorite meals from the dining commons, and I’m striving to make my own food taste just as good.
At the end of my junior year, I started to pay attention to the seniors and those I knew who had graduated. I asked them what their plans were for after college and how they had made their way to earning their degreess. Almost every person had a successful story of securing a job, internship, or graduate school. All of them, with the help of UMass and their own determination, felt prepared to leave undergraduate life. As this last year passes, these conversations have made me feel even more confident in setting out for my goals. I know that this last year will have me missing a campus I called home, while still excited to move forward in my life.