As Another Graduation Passes, I Can’t Help But Think Of My Own To Come

As of Friday, the Class of 2019 graduated, including some of my friends and acquaintances. That marked the end of another school year, and it places me with one more year before I graduate myself which leaves me with many conflicted feelings.

I love college. It is a place where I am partially self-sufficient and autonomous, living in a space that is sort of my own. I get to learn about a variety of topics across many fields. There are many opportunities to gain unique skills and meet a plethora of people all in one compact area, all easy to reach in walking distance.

However, I am curious to see what life is like without homework and exams, where my constant quest to learn and gain knowledge is not always graded and finalized in a grade point average. I wonder what it is like not to wake up at all times for classes. Though I suppose future life would be similar to all that with a job to wake up for, assignments and tasks dealt and expected with deadlines and evaluations. I have one more year to make the most of my college experience.

I did not do a lot of the things many others my age do in college: go to parties, drink, date, experiment, et cetera, and I still do not want to because those are not the things I think are living a little or letting loose personally (that's reading a good book for me). The risks I like to take are the ones that put me out of my comfort zone and force me to grow in some way. I want to do things that teach me something.

I have decided to throw myself into some obligations before I lose the chance to, such as ballroom dancing, having started to compete and having become a member of the executive board. I started learning another language, Chinese. I upgraded my Humans Vs. Zombies arsenal and plan to kick butt next semester, and there is more I expect to tackle because I want to do all I can before I graduate.

I do not know what I will do afterward, so I am controlling my now because the internal debate between graduate school and a gap year is ever waging.

If you are graduating soon, I hope you do all you want to do and all you can do. Try something new, learn something more, and make the most of the time you have left.