This is officially my last post as an Odyssey content creator and St. Thomas Aquinas College undergrad student. I have been a part of Odyssey as a content creator for two years now. Since the end of my sophomore year, I have been writing and creating on this platform. I am so thankful and so blessed to have been able to document my last two years of college and basically express myself in every way. I am officially done with undergrad; as of Friday, I graduate. I walk away from this part of my life forever. I started my journey in college, as a shaky, jittery 17 year old boy, and I leave a successful, defined, confident 21 year old man.
College truly changed my life. As I close the book on my last four years as an undergraduate, I am so thankful for everything everyone has done for me and given me. The transformation in my life started the day I began my journey here. STAC changed my life. When I left high school, I was full of regrets and I was deeply depressed because I felt like I did not have the experience I wished for until the end and at the end, I felt it all ended too quickly. College has been a consistently beautiful journey. I have no regrets.
Everything I’ve done here, all the wonderful people I’ve met and the incredible friends and professors. All of my connections have changed my life. In high school, my voice did not matter. I felt like I did not matter. I had zero confidence and did not feel good about myself. But college changed that. To have my voice matter changed my life. I now have the confidence I always wished for. I have the tools and education to begin my life. I got to do it all: work almost every campus job,write and create content, be a part of every campus event, win a leadership award, meet my best friends and truly live my life.
The last four years made me fearless and confident and made me the man I am today. I have grown on the inside and found myself. I am forever in debt and grateful to this amazing college for changing my life and reviving me. I got a new lease on life and for that I am truly thankful. STAC made all my dreams come true. The last four years have been more wonderful than I could’ve asked for. I’ve learned so much and my life has changed for the better. Every year my confidence grew and I found myself more. I have no regrets. I did everything I wanted, I made my dreams come true. I’ve had the confidence to do everything I wanted and chase all my dreams. This is where I was meant to be. Thank you for everything. I thank God everyday for sending me to STAC and changing my life forever. I had the confidence do things I never even realized I that were possible. I made changes that I never would have done before, without the confidence I gained in college. I got my ears pierced and changed my hair. More than anything on the outside, it's inside that changed. Confidence. Things I never would have had the guts to do in the past. I have had one of the best college experiences anyone could ever had. Towards the end of my journey, I was nicknamed the Mayor of STAC, which feels like such an honor. Every opportunity I was given at STAC, I made the most of it and maximized all my time and opportunities. I got everything one student could out of the college and that is an amazing feel. I hope and also know I left behind a positive legacy and impression at STAC and have made my mark there.
As i write my goodbye and say my goodbyes to my life as I have known it for four years, I feel ready to move on to start the next chapter. I am so looking forward to the next chapter. This journey in college has been the most influential so far in my life. STAC has been my everything from 17 to 21. I am so grateful to have been on this campus from 2014 to 2018. This is were I was meant to be. Although I am going to miss the social aspects, my amazing professors, all the incredible people I have met, I have done it all over the last four years. One of my favorite Maroon 5 songs is "Payphone." The one lyric in particular resonates with me at this very moment Wednesday May 9, just two days before my graduation is "But even the sun sets in paradise." I love this because the last four years have been like paradise for me.I know it's over now, but I feel so good. I am leaving with no regrets. This college experience I had changed my life for the better because I have been able to do everything I wanted, and become the man I was always meant to me. To have confidence and have my dreams come true has meant everything to me. Never did I imagine or think that college would change my life. I am so ready to begin the next phase of my life and take everything I have learned the last four years and truly start my life. It's truly bittersweet because I will miss this part of my life, but I always knew it was going end, and I'm glad to go out on my own terms. To end things my way. This is what I always wanted out of life and college and I got everything I wished for and more. I proved myself and everyone else wrong and made my dreams come true. This is goodbye and thank you. Thank you STAC for changing my life forever. I cannot wait to walk down that aisle and get my diploma.
My favorite goodbye quotes and song lyrics:
OneRepublic "I Lived"
"I, I did it all I, I did it all
I owned every second that this world could give,I saw so many places, the things that I did, Yeah with every broken bone. I swear I lived"
In no particular order, I want to thank: Mr James Nawoichyk, Carolee Stoll, Dr. Christina Pratt, Dr Dewitt, Dr. Stacy Sewell, Professor Monica Wendel, Dr. Wagner, Professor Elizabeth Luisi, Professor Nina Belissio, David Eng, Dr. Chayet, Trevor, Professor Maria Gaston De Simone ,Sharon, Shamima, Virginia, Professor Rotschild, Danielle Kobryn, Kaitlyn Decker, Denise Pawlowksi, Sue Kopac and the entire Spartan Grille team, especially Vicki and Christina. I want to thank everyone for what they have done for me. How you all have changed my life and blessed and impacted me. Anyone I have forgotten, I'm so thankful for you too. I want to thank Nicole Perez and Jackie Kasper, you both know how I feel about you. I couldn't have it without you two in my lives. You guys have been my everything the last four years. I want to thank Linda Almazan. I couldn't have made it through freshman year without you, thank you for always my sister and friend. Thank you Ariana, my first EIC. Thank you Bianca my current EIC. Thank you above all to God and then my family.
