Usually, when you hear "graduation," you think about taking pictures with your friends after, throwing your cap in the air in celebration with your classmates. The time leading up to graduation was filled with endless trips to Starbucks with your best gal pal, and uncountable sleepless nights spent in the library. If you have already graduated you probably remember the nights of playing beer pong in a Frat house basement, or sneaking into bars with you third-cousin-twice-removed-best-friend's-boyfriend's-sister's ID.

But what about the grads that didn't experience all of that? Or really, any of it to be exact. There are students out there who miss out on some of the greatest moments in college. And I am one of them. I spent a whole year at a local university, burying myself in debt, and spending every Friday and Saturday night with my boyfriend and old friends from high school. The next year, I took a year off, started working full-time, and struggled to push myself back into school. I had fallen in love with a well-paying job, great hours, and not needing a degree. However, with parents and family chiming in that not so cute way they tend to do, I was convinced to just get an Associates Degree.

The following year, I enrolled in a local community college to save some money. After all, I was convinced in my mind that an Associates would suffice for my future. Every day, driving to that awful place I remember thinking to myself, "This is it. Just get through one more year and at least you'll have some sort of degree." I cared about nothing.

As the year went on and winter break came and went, I envied my friends that came home for the holidays from their schools that were 20 minutes, 40 minutes, 3 hours, however far away. They had so many stories, and experiences, but most importantly, they had memories. They were so...college. I realized I had not made any memories at either of the colleges I had attended. I had fooled myself into believing I didn't need any of that, and I had made no effort to step out of my comfort zone. I cheated my own self out of some of the greatest years of my life.

So today, I will graduate. I will graduate without friends, without experiences, without memories. I will graduate with my family and closest friends cheering me on, and fellow classmates I never made the effort to blend with. I will graduate feeling proud of myself, yet more alone than I have felt in a long time.

Fortunately, I the jealousy I have deep inside for my "so college," friends, has pushed me to attend The University of Iowa for the Fall semester while majoring in Journalism & Mass Communication. There are seldom second chances in life, but college is an opportunity where you get a couple extra shots if the first time doesn't work out so well. So cheers to becoming a Hawk, but first, I will graduate from a school I "don't care about."