On December 8, 2018, I along with thousands of other Sam Houston State Univerity's (SHSU) students will be walking across the stage to earn my Bachelor degree, notably that of Bachelor of English.

It has been a long six and a half years for me, filled with indecision about my future and how I will contribute to society after the college bubble pops. In two months, however, the fight will be over and I will move on to the stage in life where the whole world is my oyster.

Nothing makes me more excited than to see the finish line and while I have considered dropping out at several points in my time in post-education, you don't quit at the final stretch. With that in mind, it's best for me to reflect on what this means for the future.

The first thing is that I hope to get more involved in writing in the future. There are all sorts of opportunities for writing out there aside from "do you want to write a novel?" There's copywriting, comic book writing, writing for publications (like this one), and the list goes on. As someone who writes for "Smashboards," that's a video game website I will already be writing for in the future.

Another thing is that I would love to find ways to get involved in my local community. Huntsville, Texas has fortunately proven to be a welcoming community that gives fellow residents a chance to prove themselves. Slightly over 40,000 is hardly a huge city, but when a town is as small as this, it takes everyone involved to make it as great as it is.

I expect to be in the city for at least a few more years.

The great thing about all of this is that I will actually have friends in the future to talk to. I'll be able to reach out regarding my writing if I have any questions, get advice on how to join Huntsville and Houston's writing scene, and to talk to people about my goals in the future.

As I said before, my time at SHSU will prove valuable towards building the network I already have and I am excited to keep in touch with the people that I already know.

I want to thank everyone who gave me the opportunity to make this graduation possible. I want to thank my family for putting me through college as far as they did, my professors for helping me to expose myself to challenging ideas, and my friends for giving me a community I felt I could be a part of.

Everyone who has chosen to be involved in my life means a lot to me and I say this with sincerity.

The six and a half years, especially the last two and a half, have prepared me for the rest of my life.