This is my ninth semester at the University of Arizona. It feels strange to say, but it's true. I am a super senior, although I hate to admit it. I have attended this University for more than four years, and yet, I am still here. I have overstayed my welcome yet I refuse to leave. I no longer have my four-year scholarship and yet I am still a student. How does it feel, you may wonder, to be in this predicament? What is it like to be a super senior? Well, truth be told, it's alright.
I feel old, even though I'm not really that old. But still, being four years older than a college freshman still freaks me out a little bit. I don't want to be an adult. I still don't even know what I'm doing with the rest of my life.
I plan to graduate this December, meaning that this is my last semester at the University, which also means that I am currently in the middle of my one and only semester as a super senior. I shall be a four-and-a-half-year student, when it's all said and done. This is now my third semester as a senior, although I certainly don't feel "super" at the moment.
Still, somewhat of a stigma has arisen regarding fifth-year-students. They are seen as less than; a poor, sad sample of the college population still clinging to the last bit of life left in their college years. Maybe they failed some classes, maybe they had multiple majors making it so that four years was simply not enough to complete their degree, or maybe they're just lazy. Who knows? The point is, there are many reasons why a student might still be here after four years, so keep this in mind before assuming the absolute worst about them.
Super seniors are still people too, so let's make sure to treat them as such. They probably don't want to be here anymore since they may have already been here longer than they can remember, so don't make their final semesters of college any more painful than they need to be.
As college students, we must always strive to be inclusive, so let's make sure not to alienate anyone based on the duration of their time at this University. Instead, help them to finish up their studies and graduate as soon as possible. Otherwise, they will still be here after their fifth year and they will then be forced to start a sixth, which then would give them the highly unfortunate title of super-duper senior.
I hope I never get to this point, and I don't believe that I will since if all else goes according to plan, I will be out of here in a few short months. The feeling of college coming to an end is a bittersweet one. I don't really want to be in school anymore, but I also don't really want to not be in school anymore because the real world is a scary place, creating a strange contrast that essentially ensures that I will be miserable forever, so at least I have that to look forward to.
Still, I'm now almost done with my four years and one semester here at the UA, so I suppose it's time for me to move on to bigger and better things, or maybe smaller and worse things. Only time will tell.
