As spring break comes to a close...I just realized that this has been my last spring break ever. When that realization hit me, I began to think about the fact that in less than two months, I will be graduating from college. I will be done with school forever (unless I decide to go back for my masters). I will be entering the "real world."

My first reaction was slight panic. While I am happy with my degree choice and I don't have any doubts or regrets about how college has gone, the future still feels completely unknown. The future is full of wants, needs, and expectations, yet so much of it is unknown. And the unknown can be terrifying.

My second reaction was to be bummed. Of course I am happy that I will have accomplished an important step in my life, but the majority of my life has been spent as a student. To be honest, I'm not sure if I know how to be anything else. Being a student is simply who I am. But in two months, I suddenly won't have that title anymore. And I'm not really sure how to feel about that. And beyond that, I have loved college. While it has definitely tested me and really made me doubt a lot of decisions, in the end I truly have loved the experience.

My third reaction was excitement. This has been an amazing chapter of my life, and I hope that the next one is too. Change can be a scary process, but I'm trying to be more open to it. Resisting change will only make it worse. College has become a comfort zone, and it's almost time to step out of it and try something new.

I don't know exactly what this new thing will be. No longer being a student will be the first small step out of the comfort zone. I believe that several more steps, both big and small, will follow. Heading into the future is going to be quite the journey, just like getting to this point has been. I don't know quite yet what the destination is, or if there will be a "final" one anytime soon. For now, I'm just going to take things one step at a time and try to enjoy the journey as I go.