As we finish up with the last week of final we are all realizing how much we are going to miss this school year. On top of that this is the final year of my school life where I don't have to use the word "last". Next year will be full of those moments with my "last college class at my school", my "last college baseball game", my "last summer vacation", and many more. As a junior you start seeing things with a slightly wider lens than ever before. During the first two years of college you stare through a telescope trying to look far into the future of who and what you want to be. Everything seems so far away like graduation, a job, a house, and everything else that makes you feel more like an adult. Once junior year begins however you trade in that telescope for a magnifying glass. Now as you look towards your future everything seems much closer than ever before. Everything that was previously listed seems more attainable to the point where you feel like you can reach out and touch that diploma and open that door to your new house.
It is important though to pull that magnifying glass away from your face and look around you to see all of the things that this school year has given you that no other has. You now have the friends around you who are going to stand the test of time and be with you for the rest of your life. These are your "college" friends that you will tell stories about and cherish for the rest of your adult life. Some of those friends are parts of teams and clubs who also create priceless memories. As a junior the nervousness and inexperience has worn off in your sport so that you can finally soak up everything that you do, cities and opponents that were once a blur now become more clear and memorable. Outside of the playing field you have internships and jobs that start to look more and more like what you want your adult life to be like. No longer is the classroom the only place where you learn what you want to do but now actually getting to be out taking chances and trying your hand at different things is what really shapes your future. As a junior you can take these chances and go out on a limb like no other time because you still have a year left of school to go back to the drawing board and draw up your next play. Junior year is the year of preparation and excitement for what lies ahead of you. Everything that you take out of this year will go with you for the rest of your life and you can't always say that. So thank you to junior year.
