Well, this is it.

Three years have gone by in the blink of an eye. When they say that college goes fast, they weren't lying. My years at SUNY Cortland have been filled with many disappointments and troubles but even more filled with laughs, adventures and happiness. They were also right when they said these were some of the best years of our lives.

It's crazy to think that there are only 30 weeks of classes that stand between us and that much coveted Bachelor's Degree.

It's hard to believe that in 30 weeks, there won't be any more walks up the hill, treks through the snow, or Neubig dining hall food. No more late nights with friends in the suite making up games with construction paper and oreos at 1 am. No more heart to hearts on the couches, no more running through the rain to get back to the dorm, no more spontaneous thrift store runs. No more nights out with friends or late night cards against humanity. No more movie or craft nights.

I still remember move-in day freshman year. My family and I pulled into Cortland, two cars packed full of stuff that my parents insisted that I needed, some stuff that I didn't end up using at all. 'Home' by Phillip Phillips came on, and that for me, was a sign, that Cortland would indeed become my home away from home. I remember pulling up next to Hendrick Hall and standing there for a minute just looking around and thinking, "This is it. This is the next chapter of my life." It's insane to think that that chapter is already almost coming to an end. I think many of you probably felt the same way that I did, excited but scared to all hell, wondering, "Am I going to make friends?", "What if my classes are super hard?", "What if my roommate snores?". Silly stuff that in retrospect didn't really matter in the first place. We have all found our groups and had experiences that we will never forget and in 20 years, we'll think back on them and smile, knowing that we made the best of our time in college.

Cortland has become our home for the past three years and as we loom a week away before move in day for most of us, I wanted to share my mindset with my fellow incoming seniors.

Let's create the best memories. Let's have the craziest nights, but also mellow times spent talking with friends. Let's go out and have random adventures around town, but also sit outside in the quad and just relax. This is our time to take advantage of everything that we've worked for for the last three years. It's time to live in the moment and not worry about whether or not it will be the "last time here at Cortland" that you do something. Let's go out swinging and take some names.

One day we're going to look back and wonder how the time went so fast. We'll remember those times we spent in the library studying for some GE exam that we were stressing about. We'll remember those times spent in the suite with friends just wondering where our lives would take us. We'll remember those Neubig theme nights and midnight breakfasts, Cortaca, Bistro Cookies, the 'walk like a penguin' emails, broken elevators, Spring Flings, nights out on the town, and we'll remember senior year.

So like I said, let's go into Senior Year knowing that we'll take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself and spend the time with the people who matter the most, and go out into the "Real World" and become Alumni knowing that we made the most of our Cortland years. Cheers to you Class of 2017, let's get it.