Is this seriously my last week of college classes? If you're like me, someone who loved college, saying goodbye isn't easy.
When I spot a UB lanyard-wearing freshmen looking frazzled in the Union, I can't help but feel envious about the remaining years they have left to enjoy being students. I know I'm not alone here.
Senior year marks the process of starting a new and more independent phase of our lives, so it's normal to feel some degree of pressure, anxiety, and even slight depression.
Of course we knew this time would come, and that the legitimate reason we attend college is to eventually find a career and a comfortable lifestyle, but when do we really acknowledge this purpose?
It seems to me that the primary reason most people decide to go away to college is to have a good time, and this basis clouds our acceptance of what comes next.
My second choice when first deciding where to pursue my undergraduate degree was SUNY Albany. Being from the Upstate area, I could have easily commuted and saved massive amounts of money on food, room, and board. However, if I had made this choice, I might not have had such an awesome time at college or learned the most important lessons, ones that can't be taught inside a classroom.
In college, you don't have your parents or teachers nagging you to complete an assignment and stay on track; this is up to you. As a serious procrastinator, learning self-discipline and how to manage my workload was a skill that took time and practice.
Had I never moved to Buffalo, only down the line would I have learned vital apartment-hunting skills and survival skills. Special emphasis on survival, as I have resided in the shaky "University Heights" for the past two years.
Making friends at college is also a completely unique experience; this is the time in our lives where we are growing as adults. With UB having a mixture of students from all over the world, we have the opportunity to make connections with people based on shared interests, rather than just shared hometowns.
The college experience changes our thinking and our way of handling situations and, after four years, the flow of college life has become easy. Wondering what comes next can be terrifying.
We have been students for most of our lives, but who are we now? This can be a stressful inquiry, especially for those who don't have clear plan in mind for a career or further education.
Even for those of us who know what graduate school we are going to attend, or have a job lined up upon graduation, none of us know for certain what our future holds or where life will take us and that is a beautiful thing.
Graduating seniors, for which college has become home and college friends have become family, can feel just as homesick for college life as we did as freshmen for our families, friends, and familiar places.
There is no need to worry. Many college friendships are for life, and there are opportunities to remain connected to UB through alumni activities and reunions. Social networking has also increased the ease in which we can all stay in touch. We got over our homesickness as freshmen; otherwise we wouldn't be graduating right now. We will get over this too.
Many of us view college as the best days of our lives, which may become a reminiscent memory in the coming years between the mundane haze of daily life.
Stay positive, people.
Every stage in life comes with new things to be excited for. I'll admit, there will probably be no other time in my life as carefree or wild, but maybe that's a good thing.
Learn to embrace the small things; getting a job, having a family, even eventual retirement. If college flew by this fast, won't the rest of our lives as well?
To all my fellow stressing seniors, relax. This is not the end but a new beginning and I invite you all to enjoy the ride.
Email: dannielle.otoole@ubspectrum.com
