An undergraduate degree normally takes four years to accomplish, but why not keep your college days rolling and join the five-year plan? The University of Utah is an amazing school with a vast variety of intellectually challenging classes, a beautiful campus to thrive on, and it is a place for countless memories to be made. Four years at the U just isn’t enough, or is it? Here are a few tips to help any super senior accept/maybe survive their–hopefully– last year at the U.
Tip 1: Understand that being a super senior is absolutely okay.
The struggle is real when trying to explain that you’re not only a senior in college but a super senior at that. Acknowledging that it is okay to take five years is really the first step of being a super senior at the U. Life is short, why rush anything? My advice is to take your time in college and realize that no job or future career is probably going to penalize you for not graduating in the standard four years. Plus the U rocks, so why would you want to push that away until you ultimately have too.
Tip 2: Ignore the urge to believe you’re ancient when surrounded by freshman
Okay maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but constantly being surrounded by freshmen just doesn’t help any super senior justify their age as “young.” How can you say you’re young when a large majority of your peers happen to still be under the legal drinking age? Newsflash, age is just a number. Being a super senior probably, and I say probably, means you’re older, some would say cooler, and hopefully wiser, so just ignore the freshman take over and let your super senior flag fly.
Tip 3: Take advantage of the being in the MUSS just one more time
Lets’ face it, purchasing tickets to attend a U of U football game is flat out expensive. The MUSS is seriously a blessing from the football gods because it saves us poor college students from actually having to sell our livers to attend a game. Being a super senior at the U is a huge bonus just by the fact that we can continue to live off our college discounts, and see our boys kill it on the field for another season. Hooray for the MUSS, hooray for U of U football, and #blessed for being a super senior. Am I right?
Tip 4: Secretly hate but appreciate The Hill…AKA Campus
*Disclaimer: If you’re an average hiker or you keep up on exercising daily, my thoughts here probably sound pathetic, and you can just skip over this one.
Graduation is not only the joyous day when you are officially released from school, homework, and dreaded finals, but it means that you can be done with the strenuous activity of walking up and down the campus. The U’s campus is situated perfectly on a hill. Once you make it from the bottom to the top of campus your calves are probably going to burn. As a super senior, say hallelujah for hopefully applying your trek around campus as a part of your daily activity, but praise the Lord that after this year you longer have to put yourself through that torture.
Tip 5: Cry because it happened, and/or cry because it’s almost over
The truth is, being a super senior at the U is when you can’t decide if you’re crying because you are extremely happy to leave college and get on with the real world, or if you’re crying because your college days are actually coming to a close. Graduation is just eight months away, so just accept crying for whichever reasons, and make sure to make this last year count.
Pause while I personally cry my eyes out, because