So, my last semester of college is next semester. I graduate in May 2026, and to be honest, I have no idea how to feel. On the one hand, the past few semesters have been some of the biggest challenges I have had to face, constantly fighting between my educational and personal battles, getting burnt out to the point where I thought I was never going to make it through the semester. On the other hand, I feel like I not only accomplished so much, but I also learned so much about myself and fought hard to grow into a person I never thought I would become. That is a conflict I carry as I begin my last semester, and I know the challenge has only just begun.
The MCAT. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl. The biggest test of my life is also the biggest focus of the beginning of my last semester, and I hate it. Frankly, I never wanted to think about it. However, once this past semester hit, I opened my Kaplan books, logged into my almost ten year old Khan Academy account, and began studying. However, with it coming closer, the stress and the anticipation are what have kicked me into overdrive. This is my entire career in front of me, and if I can’t score high enough, how will I be able to go to medical school? How am I supposed to kickstart my career if I can’t succeed at this?
It is a constant pressure that doesn’t go away until you go into battle with the beast itself. I want to go into a career in women’s healthcare. Helping the women in my community and learning about reproductive disorders are two of my greatest passions, and the exact reasons I chose to go into medicine. With my path within reach, I have to constantly remind myself to stay focused, keep practicing, get my applications ready, and hope the path God has for me is the one I am meant to be on.Â
That leads me to the complete opposite end of my spectrum. If my freshman year self saw me today, she would sob not just at what I had to overcome, but from happiness at the person I have become despite everything. I studied abroad in Florence (which was the most incredible experience). I survived TWO organic chemistry courses. I got out of an extremely toxic friendship and became friends with the most incredible ladies I could have asked for. I became a writer for HerCampus and an editor for USF’s fashion magazine. I grew closer with my family, became more involved in my church, and built stronger connections there.
I broke down, I fell down, and I came back up and fought back. I went through a roller coaster trying to discover myself, what I like, and began sowing the seeds of my adulthood and independence. College is the time you find yourself, and I most certainly did. Younger me would laugh if I told her about even half of the stuff I did in college. That’s why it will be so bittersweet to say goodbye and move on from Bull Country. I have to say goodbye to the place that made me, that gave me my people, and that forged the way for my dreams to come to life.
In my last semester, this is my final push. I get the good grades, I send my applications, I aim for that 520 on the MCAT that will probably not be a 520. I do everything I want to do, I cherish every minute with my friends and family, I cherish my beautiful hometown of Tampa, and most of all, I cherish USF, the college that made me who I am. Choosing USF was the best choice of my life. Now I pay homage to it. I trust in the path God has for me, I keep chasing my dreams and helping the women in my community, and most of all, I don’t back down for one second.