We're now a few weeks into spring semester I've suddenly become very conscious of the fact that it's my last. While senioritis is definitely present in some of my actions, it's not in the ways that one might normally think. Looking back on my college years, I wouldn't change how I approached them, but I do notice how I've developed and changed since I arrived on campus. I now know for sure that every cliché you hear before entering college—"College students are curious and open minded." "College years help you find yourself." "College is not the real world"—is absolutely true.
I am a Communication Studies major with a minor in Marketing and a second minor in English with a Journalism concentration. I started Saint Joseph's as an "Undecided Social Science" major and my academic career has been a series of discovering and adding on interests, and learning so much about myself in the process. Since I declared a Communication Studies major at the end of my freshman year, I have been able to narrow down my interests and strengths and continuously find new ways to practice them whether I'm in class, at work, or involved on campus.
The majority of my classes at Saint Joe's have been major or minor focused, but I could fill at least 2 more semesters with classes outside of my areas of study that I never got a chance to explore, or classes within my major and minors that I never got around to taking. College has absolutely made me more curious and open minded—just like everyone tells you it will. I'm beginning to understand the amount of knowledge in this world I may never have, and the mindset I have in my last semester is to take advantage of the information I'm lucky enough to have presented to me.
I notice this new mentality as I realize my early morning classes aren't excruciatingly painful to wake up for and drive to whereas my underclassman morning courses seemed impossible to make while living on campus. I want to make sure I leave this school knowing everything I can about the fields plastered all over my resume. I want to prove to a future employer I can meet and exceed their expectations. I find myself constantly wishing I had taken more advantage of how passionate some my professors have been about what they teach. In addition to my coursework, the organizations I've joined in the past 4 years have shaped my experience and interests immensely. I only wish I started participating in them sooner and joined more of them.
I'm lucky to have lived with the same girls every year since we met in our freshman dorm. Knowing that in just a few months we'll be living in different cities and states permanently is strange to think about. I forget what it's like to not name these girls as my best friends - they know me better than most people on this planet. We've been through the good, the bad, and the ugly together and I can't imagine no longer living with my support system (no matter how dysfunctional we may be sometimes). I also feel the best friends I've made in addition to my roommates are lifelong relationships. In college you experience friendship in a way you didn't know was possible - friendships that I assume are not usually found outside of a college environment. I am so thankful for these people who continuously broaden my horizons and show me how to be a better friend and person.
I recently sent in an application to graduate on May 14, 2016 and posed for a graduation portrait in a cap and gown. The knowledge that this day is creeping up fast is so real. I know now when I first started college, I had no idea how privileged I was to have this opportunity, and how much I would learn from the curriculum and the people I met. I think (and hope) as a graduating senior, I have a much better understanding of how fortunate I am to have the knowledge I've gained, to have experienced college life, and to have made friends to last a lifetime.
