On Saturday, May 6th, many of my friends and I graduated from Concordia University Chicago. Elsewhere, at other schools, I had even more friends celebrate their own graduations. While this time is generally revered as a joyous moment, my experience contained some joy, but also many other feelings. Basically, graduation was not all that is was made out to be and here are 10 reasons why:

1. You had to pay a graduation fee in order to actually graduate.

2. You spent a fair amount of money on clothes that you can't wear again for a while because there's photographic evidence of when you last wore those specific clothes.

3. You had to sit for an hour and a half in uncomfortable chairs (couldn't they put some of the graduation fee money towards seat cushions?).

4. You have to wait 8 weeks to receive your actual diploma.

5. You had to take lots of photos with lots of people and only a few of them will be good enough for Facebook, Instagram, etc.

6. You realized you really need to start looking for a job.

7. You had to celebrate with your family instead of your friends.

8. You really don't know what to do with the spare time you might now have.

9. You're exhausted but you can't fill all your time with sleep.

10. You had to say goodbye to a new family and home that you weren't really prepared to say goodbye to; your university, friends, and professors make up some of the best years of your life and you must close the book to begin writing the next one.

Bittersweet. This is the best way that I can describe graduating from college. Yes, there are many happy moments and mementos that I will keep until the days are no longer mine, but it also currently feels as if I am losing something beautiful. At times, I would like to invoke the spirit of Peter Pan within me to simply remain in the great moments that have now passed. Unfortunately, this can't be, but I am thankful to be blessed with the connections that I have created with others and these are bonds that will be difficult to sever. We must all begin to look forward to the great times ahead.

Onwards!