When you first begin college, the thought of ever becoming a senior is pretty much hysterical. You have this mindset that this is the new chapter and this experience is going to be your life for the next four years. What they don’t tell you? How fast it all goes by…
As you grow older and life gets busier, it’s amazing how quickly days turn into weeks, which then turn into months. Life keeps moving regardless of if you are ready or not. Then, somewhere in the midst of life you find yourself wondering how you got to the point of being a senior. Although it is scary, it also is very fun. Here are the stages of entering your senior year of college:
1. “I’m finally a senior”
This stage usually consists of being excited to be the oldest in your sorority and finally your pledge class is able to hold some sort of “authority”. You can remember being a freshmen and looking up to the seniors and the friendships that they have made, and now that image has become you. You cling to the idea of this is your “last first day of school” and you like the thought of that. You are getting ready to be done with the countless homework assignments and stressing about your tests and exams. You are finally at the stage when you see the end of the tunnel, and it’s a good feeling.
2. “The meltdown”
This stage occurs right after recruitment or after all of the freshmen become settled into their dorms. An overwhelming amount of memories come flooding back. You flashback to when you were in their place and the amount of excitement that coming to college brings. As you remember your personal experience and how much fun you had, you also remember that it actually was a really long time ago. As you see the excitement in the freshmen, you just hope they appreciate it because at that moment in time you would do anything to re-live your freshmen year just one more time.
3. “Enjoying every second”
This is probably the best stage. Seniors realize that this is their last year so they want to enjoy every minute of it. You find yourself going out more and spending more time with your girlfriends. The freshmen you once were tries to come out on the weekends to make yourself feel young again. You find yourself staying out a little later or trying to keep up with sophomores to prove that “seniors are still fun.”
4. “I’m not a freshmen anymore”
Yep. You go out more and realize that you can’t handle it like you used to. The hangover that comes with a night out of drinking doesn’t seem worth it anymore when you are sitting at work the next day at 9 AM. It hits you that you have more responsibility than you did back then and maybe it’s not the smartest idea to “re-live” those freshmen nights. Adult life has come and that itself is a hard idea to wrap your brain around.
5. “What am I going to do?”
Everyone in college thus far has experienced the stress of not knowing what they want to do after college. When senior year comes around it, becomes more real than ever. You know that within the next year, you are going to be searching for a career and that the job market is going to be competitive. Suddenly, you find yourself paying a little more attention in your lectures than usual…
6. “Thankful”
As the end of college comes into your mind, you start to become thankful for your experience. You realize the impact that your university has made on you and the friends who you have countless memories with. It’s probably safe to say that you are not the same person you were when you had your first day of school at the University, and for that you are forever grateful. You grew as a person, you learned a lot of new things, and you are about to achieve a milestone in your life that many others don’t have the opportunity to achieve. The countless hours of studying and all of the stress you experienced from cramming for exams doesn’t seem to matter anymore because you know that it’s almost over. You are about to be a college graduate, and that’s something to be damn proud of.