They say that the college experience is like riding a roller-coaster but to me its more like a zip line. College is scary like standing on a tightrope with the wind blowing, not something fun like a loop.

The initial excitement is there when you start because you are only thinking about the end. But what you don’t realize is that no matter the zip line, you have find a way up to it. As a freshman you stand at the bottom of the ropes course, your friends egging you on as you attempt to find your courage. You grab a hold of the rope and wood and realize that you are as stable as a newborn calf. Swaying back and forth you keep forgetting that you are attached to a lifeline and power your way up to the top of the course. You don’t really stand up all the way. You are kind of hunched over because heights scare you but you have to pretend to be brave. Your friends climb up to join you, joking about what a slow climber you are.

Now you are there standing on the platform. You’ve built up some confidence until you see you next part. It’s harder than the first; small planks are suspended by wire. You watch a people shakily travel across and you start to wonder if you are going to be able to continue. But you have people behind you still that you don’t want to disappoint. You walk across, slow and hesitant but the closer you get the more willing you are to continue. You hop to the other side and notice some things.

You don’t have as many friends, some people have moved ahead of you and others have fallen behind. You feel that you’ve worked so hard but you have nothing to show for it. And even though what you are after is ahead, it still has its obstacles. The path to the end is a wire, thin and shaky and you can only travel one at a time. You are harnessed in but as you move, you forget that. With each step and blow of the wind, you think maybe you can’t make it. If you stop now will people be disappointed? You remember what it is you are after, the thrill of the wind as you fall through the air. That motivation keeps you moving.

You make it across even though you didn’t think you would and now you stand at the end. The friends that you have left cheer you on from below. You smile and wave as your harness is transferred over to the main event; the zip line. You take a deep breath as they tell you to sit down and lean back. And as they count down from three, you panic. What happens if I can’t slow down? What if I want to go back but I don’t want to start over? Much like making it to the end of your senior year of college, it all comes up to fast. They let you go and for a few moments/minutes you are soaring, flying through the sky, screaming and laughing and then it all comes to an end. The journey is over and you look and marvel at how far you had to go to get to the Zip line.

See college was never a roller-coaster for me because getting to the fun was never as simple as waiting in a line. It was an uphill battle, a constant struggle against myself and what I believed was possible. It was about overcoming my obstacles in order to get to my final decent into graduation. And I’m thankful for the wind, the people that I met and the harness that didn’t let me fall. My college experience has been the ropes course leading to my graduation and what a course it was.

I’d like to give a huge round of applause to my fellow graduates and wish those that are still working on it all the best.