After closing the books on another successful year at Lehigh, I find myself both confused and excited in anticipation of the future. Being a senior in college is perhaps one of the most perplexing life stages imaginable as you live every moment with your best friends like it's your last while awaiting the unknown that is the "real world." One would think that by the time you finish your junior year, you have more of a substantial, tangible idea of what you want your life's path to look like. And for many, that rings true, seeing as some career paths have not wavered over the course of this 3-year time period.

As for me, I am still in the dark about what I want my future to look like, as I have been for the last 21 years. In elementary school, all I wanted was to move up to middle school, and from there, to high school, and as the trend continued, to leave high school for the mysterious and thrilling world that was college. But now, I find myself a rising senior in college, and I am not eagerly anticipating life beyond it. Lehigh has been my home for the last 3 years, and I am grateful for every memory I have gathered with the unappealing yet homely brown and white at the helm. Throughout my life, I have been guided by the support of an institution, and now, I find myself at the end of that agency.

Yet, while I am about to lose the security of the life of a student, I do not find myself to be as fearful as I thought I might. Rather, I am content with the life I have lead and I am eager to see what it will be like to reflect on my post-graduate days over the course of the next few years. Perhaps my feelings will change as graduation rolls around, but for now, I can say that I can appease my mind through the knowledge that I have lead myself to personal success and still have another year at my favorite place to continue that long sought after trend. A sister in my sorority said to me just days before we left for summer "everything is temporary." And she's right; everything is temporary. And for that reason, you must learn to make the most of everything, and I plan to continue to do that, whether in university or elsewhere.