Dear College,

I am about to graduate soon. Less than a week actually. I never this is what college would be like. Tv shows and movies don't do it justice. My freshmen year of college flew by. I became close with a few of the girls on my floor and I roomed with my best friend from high school. The transition from high school to college was fairly easy not only because of my roommate situation, but because my older sister had been going to the same college before me. Each morning our floor would cause chaos. We probably broke everything rule we had and having an RA that could actually handle us was hard. Though I'm not too proud of that, it was worth the memories in the end.

When Sophomore year rolled around, things began to change. I had to look for a new roommate. My roommate from the previous year had transferred and everyone had roommates already picked out. I took the chance of getting a roommate randomly selected for me. My roommate happen to be a transfer, which meant she wasn't familiar with anything or anyone on campus. We quickly bonded over our similarities. Before I knew it, we were already dancing around our dorm to High School Musical. If only we didn't record that...

Sophomore year was the year I knew college would be something I was going to miss. The amount of memories I made were more than I could imagine. One minute I'm binge watching Degrassi with friends and the next I'm at a broadway play in New York City. This was also the same year i really got into art. I came into college thinking I'd be a videographer or even a director. Turns out, I switched my major over to art. While I still have a passion for video, I never knew I could be so creative. I grew up watching my sister draw her whole life and that was something I could never do, so this was quite a surprise to me. I went down the path of digital art and I don't regret it for a second.

Then Junior year hit. Boy was that a year to be alive. Junior year I started to expand my friendships to some of the art students and made some close friendships. It was also the year I turned 21, which meant I stepped a little into the party scene. When I say little, I mean two parties...but that was different for me. While I love throwing my own parties at home, college parties was always something that was out of my comfort zone. Since Junior year was the year I made some really close friends, I knew if I went to a party that I would know most of the people there. I guess you can say my Junior year was a very carefree time. This same year I learned animation while taking my art courses. This was something I fell in love with. It finally hit me that this was something I could see myself doing.

Finally, it was senior year. This was the year I really grew up. In the beginning, I spent most of my time working on my senior project and prepping for my internship that would later come my second semester. I became very independent. For awhile, I thought it sucked. It was rare if I was making plans to see friends. It wasn't cause I didn't have any, but rather too busy preparing for the outside world that would come. I worked so hard this school year that I managed Dean's List both semester's which was a big deal because it was something I never accomplished the previous three years. Stepping away from the social life a bit really helped. I'm not saying drop all your friends, but I do wish I would have taken my work more seriously the first three years. My second semester was when it all started to come together. I had an internship and my senior art show. Both were amazing opportunities, but when they both came to an end, I knew graduation was approaching.

I started applying to jobs this past month, since I had more time on my hands. I think I applied to at least 30 now. The past 2 weeks I've been in contact with a company who seems interested, but they were located in a place I wasn't too familiar with so this was a big step for me. I visited the place a week ago and I already love it. FINGERS CROSSED.

Now graduation is approaching. All of this wouldn't have happened if I wasn't in college. I made friendships that could last a lifetime. I learned so much about Art and Technology that could really be useful in the real world. I could go on and on about my college experience, but everyone is different. Thank you for everyone that helped me on my way to this point. I know I will definitely come back for reunions or just to visit when I'm in the area.

Thank you,
A 2017 College Student