As I write this on April 1st, there is about a month left of classes and a month and a half until graduation. I'm terrified, I think. I'm not really sure how I feel about it because I'll have a nice year of grad school until I have to really join the real world, but there's definitely some terror. Most of my friends will be moving far away and I'm bad at staying in touch. It's just crazy to think that four years of life have gone by and are ending and I'm suddenly just not feeling ready.
With that, I've been thinking of the certain experiences that I have left to look forward to in this final month and half of college. I'm so sad to realize that in so few days my friends and I will all be headed our separate ways with the very real possibility of never seeing one another again. I want to experience as much as I can in this time with my friends and spend as much time as possible with them until the end. I decided to use images I've taken of my friends taking the same final steps because they're so much of the reason I find myself excited to see what the world has to offer.
1. My final Cotillion.
Cotillion is a dance that all Arcadia students are invited to, with priority to seniors. I've gone every year since sophomore year and I am so excited to go again. This year, all of my friends since freshman year will be attending together for the first time. I love how everyone attending the dance wears a range of dresses and the chance to hang out with friends you may not always see.
2. My 22nd birthday.
On April 11th, I turn 22. I can't wait to reach this birthday milestone - nothing special really happens, it just makes being a senior feel even more final. Also, I adore birthdays in general so I'm just overall happy. Most seniors turn 21, 22, or 23 during this final year and I know whatever age we turn, it feels like such a milestone.
3. The final day of classes and thesis day.
This one is genuinely terrifying (although I have the cushion of graduate school) to think about it. However, I am certainly quite excited to never sit in an undergraduate class again. I'm done with being in the same classes with all of the same people constantly. It's time to move on from this phase in my life and I feel like the last day of classes signifies this. As for my friends, thesis day is the greatest signifier of this. My Capstone was last semester but I'm going to be marking the day my friends present their hard work as a big milestone nonetheless.
4. Senior week.
I'm not actually sure that my friends and I will do any of the events this week, but this is a huge deal for Arcadia seniors in general. It's a week where only seniors and very few undergrads are on campus. There's a bunch of events to attend, but it's also that big last chance to just be with your friends. I'm excited to just have the opportunity to spend that time making final memories, even though it's terrifying to think of them as "final memories." During my sophomore year my best friends did an awesome "Philly bucket list" day, pictured above, that I had the privlege of joining in on.
5. Graduation itself.
May 19th is the big day: Arcadia's undergraduate graduation. I'm so excited to don my cap and gown, walk on stage to receive my diploma, and see my family. In my four years at Arcadia, I have not missed a graduation to see my friends take those final college steps. It's such a big deal to finally graduate and I know it's something we're all looking forward to.
All-in-all, I'm genuinely not ready for this chapter of my life to end and I know my fellow seniors feel the same way. In these last few months there's so many things to look forward to and experience before we have to say goodbye to it all.
