As I am approaching my last and final semester of my undergraduate career, I feel different. Different from the person I knew entering college to now. If I had the opportunity to time travel and speak to the college freshman Angelica, the dynamics of my mind would be completely different to the almost college graduate Angelica. Getting ready for graduation and having a plan for graduate school, it’s sort of crazy how quickly it has gone by. These four years have completely molded my thought processes, my self-awareness and confidence and my alcohol tolerance when I turned 21. College has been the best time of my life, and I am endowed to every memory, person and moment that has contributed to my mind, body and soul.
1. To the good friends I gained and to those friends I lost: Thank you for your support, regardless of the circumstances that brought us together or drove us apart. You all have molded me into the human being I am. Thank you for the laughs, the nights out, the nights in, the nights where we drank too much and laughed at how much we loved each other. Thank you for teaching me patience and kindness and how to successfully shot gun a beer.
2. To the professors and advisors that kept their faith in me: Thank you for your constant guidance and encouragement throughout these four long years. Thank you for believing in my future and constantly telling me “You can do this Angelica, just put your mind to it”. Thank you for the long study hours and the long office hours where you had to explain the concept twice on a dry erase board.
3. To My Chi Sigma Omega Sisters: Thank you for making me the best woman I can be. Thank you for constantly pushing me to achieve the best. Thank you for giving this old lady a bid Spring 2016. Thank you for being the best group of women I have ever known. Thank you for the long nights of studying, the study hours that kept me accountable for my schoolwork. Thank you for making me better at time management. Thank you for the love you have shown me and reminding all of us of our inner beauty. Thank you for the hard work that each sister has made to make us Sorority of the Year, something we were honored with and something I will continually hold near and dear to my heart.
4. To my mom and family: Thank you for your moral and financial support to get through college and the courage to follow my dreams. Thank you for accepting my crazy work and school hours and still loving me anyway. Thank you for getting me through the hardest times in my academic career.
5. To Harper and UIC: Thank you for equipping me with the knowledge to take on the world. Thank you for molding my creative mind into something real and viable in this world. Thank you for the late nights you gave and the ton of homework that I probably will miss. But most of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity of education and the ways of a liberal and free mind.
Like I’ve said before, college has been the best experience of my life and I truly will miss the moments that it has given me. But for now, on to bigger and better things, here’s to graduation and a fresh start to a new adventure.