The time’s really come. Three and a half years, one pandemic and 16 articles later, my college career is coming to a close, as I sit here one week out from graduation. Going to class, doing homework and complaining about my countless exams and presentations all end here. Here at the University of Central Florida. School wasn’t all too bad though, actually, I enjoyed it. Learning new things and becoming an #EducatedWoman was actually kind of fun. I mean, knowledge is power, right? My time being a part of Knight Nation was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world — but you would have never heard freshman Ashley say that — the growth I’ve endured during these past few years is unimaginable.
chapter 1
Let’s travel back in time, shall we? August 1, 2018: college move-in day. My mom’s SUV packed to the brim with the entire inventory from Home Goods in the trunk and me in the backseat, taking in every second of the drive from South Florida to UCF like I was being sent off to a boarding school with no internet… a little dramatic, but it’s the truth. At home and the entirety of my freshman year, I was a beautifully proportional mix of Bashful and Dopey, two of The Seven Dwarfs — I was the shy, klutzy bean who never spoke up and never went out of the way to put myself out there.
chapter 2
My freshman year, I was going through college with the mindset of one goal in mind: get that degree. Don’t get me wrong, that degree is important, but I wasn’t taking in the entire college experience — I wasn’t looking in my peripherals so to speak. College isn’t only there to teach us the textbook, it’s there to teach us how to interact with people and socialize on our own. So from there, I met a few people who were just the same part witty to crazy as me and started to balance the work with a little bit of fun.
I went from being homesick, literally personified, to my parents asking me to come home because they missed me. Not the other way around. The memories I made at UCF are what I built where everything was my choice. Of course, I didn’t make the right choice 100% of the time, but I got to be in charge of all things Ash and learn from it. The lesson on independence was one of my favorite chapters from college. Definitely aced that test.
chapter 3
As I sit here in my tiny-ass student apartment writing this, I learned to be very grateful for the little things. Pun intended. The people you surround yourself with can make or break your life. Two amazing, heavenly humans can bring light to the dimmest of Saturday nights. A bottle of wine doesn’t hurt either, just want to throw that out there. But when those nights in watching Sex and the City just isn’t enough, you have to take that leap of faith and put yourself out there. Looking back at my time on campus with Her Campus, I joined as a timid, confused freshman who just wanted to find her place at a school with the population of Newport Beach, California. I wouldn’t have found the people I’ll know for a lifetime and get countless internship and job opportunities if I didn’t take that risk of walking into that small meeting room full of kind-hearted, motivated women and kick-starting my career as a writer.
The best things happen when you least expect them. Even if you don’t want to go out for a night on the town, make yourself want to. Put on your favorite hype playlist and take a moment to let loose. You may never look this hot again, so use your time wisely. When you look back on your life, make sure it’s full of happy memories surrounded by people you can’t get enough of, not full of regret. Plus all the cute pictures you take when you’re out make for some pretty bomb Insta pics.
When I walked through those dorm halls, I thought I had all the time in the world, I mean, four years which turns into 1,460 days, sounds like a long time, but Gen Y has been right all along: life really does go by in the blink of an eye. Even quicker when a pandemic cuts your college experience a tad short. If last year taught all of us anything at all, you never know what’s on tomorrow’s agenda, so you have to make the most of each and every single day — I can’t stress that enough. And even if tomorrow isn’t what you had in store, just remember these are the good ol’ days, so make some memories to tell your kids about, maybe it’ll get you the “Coolest Mom” award during “Bring Your Kid to Work” day. What you put into your college experience — really anything in life — is what you’ll get out of it. Circling back to Chapter 2, Independence, you’re in charge of your life now. You can either celebrate the memories you created or blame yourself for the ones you didn’t make.
chapter 4
Everything I accomplished in the past three and a half years led me here. If you’re a smart cookie and read that sentence slowly, you may have noticed I didn’t say four years, like the typical college grad. You got it, I’m graduating early, Mom and Dad! No more college tuition payments! And even better for me, no more stressing over Zoom classes ever again! While I’m eternally grateful to graduate at all, not even early, I am a bit scared. Scared of feeling like I don’t know enough, scared of being a little fish in a world full of sharks, all of it. School is the only thing I’ve known for the past 18 years, so when you break a habit, a withdrawal period typically takes place. Academic validation is the only validation I know, so now it’s like… haha jokes over, what now? The transition from full-time student to full-time employee will be an adjustment, but life’s all about changes, that’s what keeps it fun.
I’m not an expert on change, but I’m slowly learning to accept it and appreciate it. I got so comfortable with my life in Orlando, it feels natural at this point. I know everything happens for a reason and there’s a reason I was meant to graduate early; I’m just a little unsure of it right now. One end to an incredibly heart-warming experience is just going to lead me to something even better. Something filled with more love and success than I could’ve ever imagined.
To new beginnings.
Always love, #HCXO.