Graduating college, we are told, means acceptance into the "real world." When I embarked on the journey that encompasses my college career, I adequately prepared for my four long years to reach an abrupt halt in the Spring of 2017... but college had other plans for me.
In the Spring of 2015, I was informed that in three short semesters, my requirements would be fulfilled and I would be a college graduate graduate in December of 2016. In the moment, these three semesters felt like a lifetime away. Since I had begun college four semesters before this very moment, I figured that the three that remained would seem to take just as long, if not longer.
But here I am.
It is not the Fall 2016 semester, and my final three months as an undergrad. On December 12th, I will attend my final college seminar, and before Christmas break I will submit an Honors Thesis. And then it is over.
From the Fall of 2013 when I stepped on campus for the first time as a college athlete, attending 8am classes and already trying to configure my schedule for the spring to have Mondays off, to the present day, I have become an entirely different person. In three years I have held 5 jobs, been in 3 relationships, taken 33 classes, completed one internship, played in over 60 field hockey games, spent an average of 10 hours each week exercising, and slept an overage of 7 hours every night. In my final semester, the alarm sounds before 5am six days a week. I teach barre classes 6/7 mornings, student teach at the high school level Monday through Friday from 7:45am until anywhere from 2:30-4pm. I am enrolled in a seminar in accordance with my student teaching as well as an online course that keeps me accountable for doing work in my Honors Thesis, as well as a directed study for the project. I am in my final season as a college athlete, so 6/7 days a week I play field hockey following my scholastic and employment requirements.
Though I am still a "college kid," I do not identify with any part of a typical college lifestyle. In fact, I identify more as an adult. It may be for a class and college credit, but my days include teaching high school. No part of that seems academic to me- in fact, it is difficult and it is exhausting. I'd much prefer someone telling me what to do and how to learn. Outside of my classroom, I try to find moments when I am both awake and focused to complete the work that remains before graduation.
Three short semesters ago I though that this day, these days, would never come. In fact, just last semester I thought for sure I had ruined my chances of graduating. In a matter of three weeks, the last three of the semester, I spent 5 days in Vegas for my sister's bachelorette party, finished 3 "final papers", spent 53 hours in the school library creating an entire 108 page Unit Plan on Homer's Odyssey, finalized the details of my sisters's wedding, and somehow managed to complete the semester and serve as her maid of honor. However, now that I am in the final semester, it seems like there is no time to get everything done. I have made it to this point, and specifically surviving last semester, I know that I am capable of being successful. However with the end game this time being the top of the hill, the final landscape rather than a steeper climb, I know that the end is fast approaching. As I survive each week, it does not feel like I am in school at all: it feels like full-on adulting. From a work standpoint, it seems the closer December 2016 actually gets, the further it seems.
