The final days of my college years arrive and I am suddenly struck with overwhelming emotions that I did not know I could feel. I am met with memories that feel so close but remember them now, I realize that they were so long ago. It doesn't seem like it's been that long since we sat in the cafeteria bitching about how low quality the meals are but it's those times when we were together that are the greatest moments.

I didn't really think much of it as I was swamped with essays, finals, work, and other life things but sitting here now, being reminded on social media that I am in fact graduating from college is hitting me pretty hard.

I have been very good about denial and pushing back the feelings of a huge chapter of my life coming to a close. I have pushed these feelings so deep within my soul and hopes that it would never come back. However, here we are, a week away from my graduation.

I guess I have a few things to say:

I've gone through a lot these past few years but haven't we all? We've all gone through hell and back. But to my fellow seniors, here we are:

We did it, didn't we? We said we would and we did. We are here. Just a few days away. We will walk across that stage and we will close a huge chapter of our lives. We made it. All those sleepless nights, copious amounts of caffeine, endless papers and assignments, teary-eyed confessions of stress, late night talks, all of it, was for this exact moment when we prove to ourselves and to those we love that we freaking made it.

We are graduating from college and that is an amazing feat. Life is filled with amazing and terrifying things. Graduation is simply another chapter but it's a grand one. Don't sell yourself short. Graduating college is a huge deal.

We've all been through some things. We've fallen in love, we've had our hearts broken, our sleep schedule drastically screwed up, we've lost friends to time and circumstances, we've made new friends to time and circumstances, we've lost and found ourselves in the midst of insanity, we learned what we loved and what we hated, we took classes that made zero sense to us, and we took classes that meant everything to us.

We've done it all. We've been through the highs and the lows. And now here we are. My dear, dear friends, my god, I'm going to miss you the most. I'm going to miss everything about us. We are all going down such different paths and I wish I had more time with you all. We are all going to such different places.

Some of you are moving away for good, some of you are leaving the country, some of you are staying but doing different things. We have all grown so much and those of you that I've known since freshman year, wow, we sure have changed, haven't we?

Four years does go by so quickly. However, it has been privilege to have been able to experience these four years with you all. Thank you all for being a part of my college life and thank you all for being such a big part of my story. I truly do wish we stay in touch but I know that life will happen and we will grow apart. However, when we do meet again, I hope that we continue on like nothing has changed. I hope we still remain so bright and loved in each other's lives.

As we walk across that stage, I hope we look into the crowd and remember that we all did it together and we find pride within ourselves for getting this far.