Sweet, sweet senior year. I somehow managed to make it through my incredibly stressful first semester, and now I am in my final semester of college—the home stretch. I can almost see the light and hope of graduation shining at the end of this long, sometimes stressful journey we call college. As I embark on this final semester of what people arguably call the greatest four years of your life (and I agree), I have just a few thoughts, as I’m sure every final-semester senior does.
1. Where the hell did these past four years go?
This is a question that I’m sure most of you have thought about at least once. I clearly remember moving into my freshman dorm, meeting my roommate, the people from my floor that I’d be spending my first year with, and trying not to cry as my parents walked out of Brooke Tower and left me on my own for the first time in my life. I remember my freshman year quite vividly, and each year after as everything slowly started to blur together as I moved on from one year to the next. With each passing year, time started moving faster and faster, and now here I am, writing this article about my final semester of college. Where has the time gone?
2. Considering it’s my final semester, I need to go out as much as possible and not waste the small amount of time I have left. ...
I find myself thinking about this quite a lot. While I am eager to break into a career, professional life will be much, much different than what we’re all used to. No more staying out until 2 a.m. on a random Tuesday night to enjoy Fat Daddy’s, their tequila and their tacos (unfortunately). I look at it as an opportunity I won’t have after I graduate because I’ll have to be at work at 8 a.m. instead of sleeping in, leaving myself just enough time to make it to my first and only class at noon on a Wednesday. I need to enjoy the spontaneous nights out with friends because we’re tired of doing homework, or because we just need to have a serious life talk about what we’re doing in just four short months. The Tuesday night bar trips as well as spontaneous wine nights and life talks with your closest friends will become less and less after graduation, and it’s important to take advantage of them with the few months we have left.
3. But now that I’m this far into my college career, I’m slightly sick of constantly going out.
Yes, this absolutely contradicts my statement above. I enjoy taking advantage of the opportunities I have to go downtown or stroll into Mutts on a random weeknight, but now that I’m a second-semester senior, I’m slightly tired of going out all the time. If I had to choose between going out on a Saturday night or stay in to drink wine, order a pizza and binge-watch Netflix, I will most likely always pick the second option. I’m tired of paying cover fees only to drink poorly made beverages at dirty bars, getting hit on by drunk guys who I am not even interested in to begin with. As an underclassman, I never thought I’d see the day where staying in was more appealing than going out, but now that I’m about to graduate, a date with some pizza and a bottle Cabernet Sauvignon is a beautiful thing to look forward to. And in all seriousness, who wants to parade around High Street in a tight piece of fabric that can barely be considered a dress and heels you’re very likely to break your ankles in? Not me. Underclassmen, eventually you will grow tired of cheap drinks and waking up with a debilitating hangover, and you’ll grow tired of desperately trying to get your life together all by five o’clock on a Sunday evening.
4. Do I really have to make it through one more semester of this?
Senioritis. Enough said. I’m a good student. I enjoy focusing on my studies, and nothing feels better than good grades. But my gosh, the senioritis is so, so real. My motivation is essentially nonexistent, and when I do catch a wave of inspiration, I take advantage of it as much as possible because I know it likely won’t last very long. My schoolwork is just as important this semester as it was last semester and the semester before that, but finding the motivation to get any work done is almost impossible when graduation is so close. I’ve been busting my ass for the past four years, and while I will need to put as much effort, if not more, into my professional career, I am completely over the projects that consume an entire semester, as well as writing papers that have absolutely nothing to do with my major. I’m ready for something new.
5. Wait… I really only have one more semester of this.
In just a few short months, we will be graduates of West Virginia University. It’s exciting and terrifying all at the same time, but I can honestly say that I’m a bit sad about it. I have experienced some of my best and worst moments while in college, learned incredibly valuable lessons, and have grown into a person that I’m proud to be. It’s sad to think about the fact that my best friends will no longer be a five minute drive down the street, my favorite restaurants and bars will no longer be within walking distance and I will no longer get to experience college and all it has to offer. Morgantown has been my home for the past four years and I am very happy to say I spent an important piece of my life enjoying this little college town. I’m enjoying Morgantown and all it has to offer as much as I can before I leave, and I think most of you are doing the same thing. While I’m excited to move on, these past four years could have slowed down just a bit, and I do find it hard to believe that in less than four months, I will no longer be a WVU student.
6. What will I do after all of this is over?
The million-dollar question. We've all been asked it before, but I'm sure most of us have a difficult time answering it, if we're able to answer at all. Ideally, we'd all love to be handed our dream jobs, live in a thriving city and make enough money to pay off our student loans, but the likelihood of that happening is rare. Just know that it will be okay. We're all second-semester seniors in the same boat. It might not happen right away, but we will find jobs and hopefully be relatively close to where we want to be, and we will adjust to post-college life, no matter how impossible it may seem. It might be difficult to imagine waking up in a city other than Morgantown, but in just a few short months we'll be doing just that, beginning a new chapter and creating a life we may have thought was impossible.
