It’s been over a month of school, and I still can’t wrap my head around the idea that I’m a senior in college. The other day I was walking around the Graduate School fair and thinking how is it possible I’m even considering applying to Grad School. Freshmen year seems like an eternity ago, but May 7th feels like it will be just around the corner. Pretty soon I’ll be entering what many consider “the real world”.
It’s scary. Scary is an understatement. How will I be able to live in a place where I can’t place work orders to fix my clogged toilet? How will I pay for rent and bills and student loans? Where will I live, where will I work, what will I be doing next August? All the what if’s and what not’s are daunting. What door did I walk through where suddenly I’m an adult making decisions that may very well impact the rest of my life. Who let me grow up, and when did I stop being a kid.
The one thing senior year is teaching me is to take each day as it is. Go slow and start steady. One by one, day by day appreciate where you are and what’s around you. Stop and look at the sunset. Forget about a five-point homework assignment and go on a late night adventure with friends. Skip class and road trip to the Mojave Desert to experience Tangled in real life. Senior year has challenged me to make the most of what time is left. Try new restaurants and explore San Diego is all over the agenda. Sleep in until noon one weekend, but wake up for the sunrise the next. There is no time to be wasted.
But senior year isn’t all bad, and it’s not all a list of ‘must do’s before you graduate’. The most exciting part of senior year is knowing that once it’s all over I’ll be somewhere doing something I love. By the end of this year I’ll have completed a four year education at an amazing university. I’ll have knowledge to put into practice. I’ll have experience to mold my perspective. And I’ll have friends all over the world. I’ll have stories to tell my grandkids and inside jokes to treasure. I’ll have a whole lot of debt but a whole lot of memories.