Holy Crap.

This is it, the final chapter. You have survived every group project, every research paper, 8 a.m. class, every professor you swore hated you, and all those nights where the cheap beer flowed a little too easy, to get here: the last semester. It doesn't really hit you until a few days before you head back to begin this last and final leg of the journey. So here are 12 things I and every other 2nd semester senior are sure to be feeling at this moment.

1. Relief.

The last 17/18 years of your life has been spent in school, and finally, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. 16 weeks and you are done with school forever. Unless you are a self-torturing masochist, like myself, who has decided grad school is up next. That, however, is currently in the back of your mind. The prospect of no more homework is enough to make you giddy and jump for joy.

2. Terror.

The joy only lasts for a moment as total fear and dread enter the body and take over. You start to realize it and suddenly it goes from "Yay! I'm almost done!!!" to "Oh no, I'm almost done. What the hell am I going to do?"

3. Ready or not.

Here you go. You have realized it is too late; you are going to graduate, and your fate is sealed. Then you realize you have exactly one semester to cram in everything you didn't learn, experiences you have not yet lived, and places you have not yet been. You've been here almost four years, so what have you done with all that time?! All of those Netflix binges are coming back to haunt you.

4. Wait, wasn't I just a freshman?

Well, the answer is no. Freshman year was actually three years ago, but you suddenly have the feeling that time was in fast forward. This is some sick joke, because there really is no way you are a second-semester senior right now. It's not true. College doesn't really have an end, does it?

5. I can't be the only one...

You look around, and somehow it seems like everyone else has their life together. You see them walking around in real people clothes while you are still wearing your sweatshirts from high school. Those around you seem to be laughing and smiling. Somehow they are not crying just because they have to talk about the future. So either they really are just superhumans who have it all together, or they are blissfully unaware of the cold hard facts of the real world.

6. I am not old enough for this.

Seriously, who is allowing this? On whose authority am I being allowed to graduate college and be an adult!? I still burn toast and melt coffee makers. You might legally be 21, but, like, in reality you're 12.

7. The real world.

It finally hits you. You need a job, and you don't have one. You have heard that those are a thing, but they have always seemed mystical and far off. Now you will take anything, because having absolutely no idea where you are going to be in six months is absolutely terrifying. Yes, college was difficult at times, but your parents were always there to hook you up with some pizza money. Also healthcare, and what is a 401k?

8. She's engaged?!

The amount of times this will happen over the next few years is insane. Over Christmas break alone you saw that girl from elementary school got engaged to the boy down the street, and that guy from your English class proposed to his high school sweetheart. You sit there and go "Wow, that's so adult." Then you realize that it means you're old enough to get married *gasps* and then the freakout starts back at square one. Will you be alone forever?

9. Damn, I'm gonna miss this place.

This next stage is when the nostalgia finally starts to set in. The realization that this stupid little college town you couldn't wait to get out of is now a place you have come to call home. You realize all the places you are gonna miss. It feels like the $5.99 pizza and the LAX house parties will never get old. You solemnly promise yourself to appreciate every aspect. You will go everywhere and do everything you've said you would do for the past seven semesters.

10. I don't know you or like you, but I'll miss you.

Then you realize it's not just the place, but it's the people too. College is a weird time, and the experiences you made with your classmates skipping class to get 50 cent pancakes at IHOP will be remembered, and you are going to miss the hell out of them. Suddenly you see that girl from your freshman dorm and get all nostalgic wishing you had stayed better friends. Maybe you won't, but it'll feel like missed opportunity until you remember that you didn't like her all that much. That IHOP crew? The roommate you shared that first apartment with? Those are the people that will be sorely missed.

11. I'm going to be a loser.

After the trip down memory lane, you take the detour down fear avenue and wind up right back in panic town. We all fear that having to move back home is a sign of failure. I assure you that it is not.

12. Acceptance.

At the end of the day, and after many tears to your mother, you realize you will be OK. You will get through this semester, you will graduate, you will make some great memories with wonderful friends, soak up the last few months of learning, and prepare yourself for the outside world. It might be big, scary, and full of unknowns, but you have great friends, supportive family, and worked hard for this degree. You will make it, and this piece of paper is a ticket to do anything you want. It's about time we get ready to embrace this new and crazy life.