Graduation is one of the saddest days for underclassmen to be on campus or social media, and for me this year has definitely been one of the toughest yet. As a rising senior I can't help but think about growing up and the future, two of the worst things in the world. At the same time, all I can think about after graduation is how lucky I am.

I am lucky to have chosen a college that has allowed me to grow so attached to it that I am already sad a year before I have to leave. I am lucky that my school has allowed me to grow up so much in the last three years and given me opportunities I could have never imagined.

I am so lucky to have gotten to study abroad, join a sorority, and become a leader. I am lucky to feel connected to certain places on campus, special professors, and even specific days in the cafeteria that I never want to leave. I am lucky.

I am lucky to have friends that make watching graduation so hard. I am so lucky to have had three amazing years on campus with some of my best friends. I am forever grateful for every lesson they have taught me and every memory they are a part of.

So much of me is because of them and I can't even imagine how I can be half the role model they were for me. I am lucky I got to see their shining faces every day and I am lucky that I have more smiles waiting for me next year. I am lucky that I know most of my goodbyes are not forever because the bonds I have made on campus will last beyond the limestone walls of campus.

I am lucky to feel like I am losing a part of my family with these graduates because to me that means that my college experience could not be any more positive or full. I am lucky.

I am lucky that I was able to see my best friends graduate, and share in their accomplishments with them. I am lucky that I go to a school small enough where the entire community celebrates the victories of the students, and I can not wait until I have my own chance to be celebrated and remembered.

I am lucky that I have a school and community that make it so hard to think about leaving because they are so positive and safe. I am lucky to have found myself in the Dickinson College Community.

While watching my friends and the Class of 2016 leave me behind I feel distinctly unlucky, I know how lucky I am to have a place that's hard to leave, and friends that are hard to say goodbye to. I am forever grateful to Dickinson College for giving me a place to love, and I can't wait for one final year with my luck.