So you have one year. One year left in college before you have to work every day. Pretty soon you’ll walk across the stage and it’ll all be over. You only have one year before you have to say goodbye to your closest friends and beautiful college campus. You’re probably praying that you have a job waiting for you somewhere. Maybe you’ll get to work close to home and stay with your family. Or maybe you’ll be packing up your bedroom and moving out to a new place. A place far from home and even farther from your comfort zone. Maybe you’ll be getting married when you graduate and starting a new life with someone you love. A life you’re not used to yet. Whatever awaits you after college, your last year is about to start. Suddenly, you realize this is it. This is all you have left of your college life. Four years are almost over and you begin to panic. What if you don’t get a job? What if you can’t pay off your debt? What if you just fail?
Don’t panic. I promise it’s going to be okay. Worry about finding a job when the time comes. Worry about success when the year is almost over. You still have time left. You have a whole year left. It’s waiting for you. Don’t waste this last year worrying about the future. Don’t spend every second wondering if you might not make it.
You have more memories to make. More college experiences to create. Senior year isn’t meant to be sad and depressing. It’s a time to celebrate the end to a great four years. You need to remember the first three years and make this last one even better. Take risks while the consequences aren’t so bad. Do it while you still have a little bit of your safety net to catch you when you fall. It's time to make those last few months count. Make sure your friends stay close and your skills stay sharp. Take hold of your senior year and make it what you want it to be. There’s only one year left and there’s no reason to spend it upset about the future.
Look at all the things you can still do. You can still go out for a drink with the girls and spend one last spring break in Florida. You can ride to Cook Out at 2 a.m. and drive to the beach for the weekend. You can spontaneously ride to the movies or go bounce around a room full of trampolines. You still have so much freedom. Use that freedom while you can. Soon you’ll be bound by employment and bosses and company rules. You’ll have bills and other payments that demand your attention. Senior year is the only time when you can be an adult and still be a kid, too. This is the last year before you have to accept that adulthood is real and put on your big kid pants. Don’t give up that year before it’s over. Make it the best one yet. So here's to the rising senior, may you look back on this next year and remember all the fun you're about to have.
