This last week when I was meeting with my faculty advisor I realized that it is impossible for me to graduate this May 2018. I have been thinking about this for the last month. I have been going back and forth about dropping a major or a minor. I have done a lot of thinking and I have come to the realization that I would love and I want to graduate with a double major and triple minor. I plan to complete my major degrees in History and English, with three minors in education, museum studies, and gender studies.

When talking to different people about what my new plans are, the very first question that I get asked is "are you sure you want to complete a degree in museum studies and gender studies" I decided to do this because I want to gain a different perspective in life and in my teaching and knowledge abilities. I want my students in either secondary of higher education to gain different perspectives on life as a history and English major.

When I was debating on whether to stay or graduate, I felt like I had no control of what I wanted to do. I was asking people on what they thought; that was a mistake. Not because I don't value their opinions but it made me overthink my decisions. Once I was able to get a clear head and decide for myself what I wanted I decided to stay for that extra year.

I know that my ego was a huge part of why I decided to stay. I came in as a double major and a minor but I refused to drop my second major to a minor. I also didn't want to overload on units and stress myself out when I didn't need to. Staying the extra year is something that I am coming to terms with. It does allow me to do what I want to do academically and co-curricular. It also allows me to take my time when applying to jobs and grad schools to see what path I want to take.

Staying an extra year did seem daunting and sad but for my own sake, I need to stay that extra year. Sadly I won't be walking the stage this year with the people I started this college experience with but it doesn't mean that I wasn't capable of walking, it just means that I wanted to do more.

For those college students who are thinking that it is a bad thing to stay for the fifth year, all I have to say is that it's not a bad thing if you are doing completing a degree that will mean something to you. In the end, we all move through college at different paces. I know people who have completed their entire college career in 3 years. I also know those who stay for an extra year or those who stay one extra semester. Whatever the case may be it isn't a bad thing to stay or leave. Why? Because we all move at different rates.