It has reached that point in the semester. Spring break has come and gone. The next vacation we get is the one from which we will not return to our undergraduate universities. What a terrifying — even paralyzing — realization. For those who are hanging in the balance of an uncertain future after college, or anxiously anticipating plans for the future, this one’s for you.
It’s been a long four years. You’ve read more books than you thought humanly possible. You’ve written countless papers, some of which you are so proud that you sent to your parents and your fellow nerdy friends; others, you never want to see again. So many, many hours you have spent in the classroom, in the library. You probably don’t even realize how much you have learned and question how much you have retained in that brain of yours, but trust me: it's in there.
Think about the feelings you faced when you first came to campus in your first year of college. Were you nervous? Excited? Did you have that feeling of butterflies in your stomach as you walked through the pathways of your yet unfamiliar new home as you looked around with a wonder-stuck curiosity? I hope so. Remember moments like these and hold onto them in these last couple weeks. As you see new prospective students following around tour guides on your campus, breath in the fresh spring air and realize how much you have experienced since you were in that same tantalizing moment of almost-college. Try offering them a friendly smile to ease their uncertainty.
As you scramble this semester to finish the unimaginably large workloads, remember to balance your time between working and being present with the people who have become your family throughout this transformative time. As much out of you as your final papers, internship and job applications require, revitalize yourself with a night out — or in — with your friends. Trips out to the bars can be ridiculously fun, but there’s something to be said for the intimacy of a movie night in with your best buds.
Speaking of relaxing, please be sure to do that. You can not be on the go all the time and possibly stay sane. When you're brain and your body feel like they can take no more, listen to them and treat yourself to some sleep. Try to go to bed at a reasonable hour, and if you don’t, sleep until an hour at which you will not feel like a complete zombie the next day.
If there’s a trip you’ve meaning to make since you have come to the area of your college — like visiting a nearby Bookmill (I’m talking to you, Pioneer Valley seniors!) — DO IT! Make that Senior Year Bucket List and check those experiences off! That paper you have to write will get done eventually.
Now, I am not saying to chuck aside your responsibilities completely. This is simply a call to enjoy the moment you are in. Be fully present, give it your all — and all that motivational lingo. You are capable. You are intelligent. You are ready for the path ahead of you.
Just garner up the confidence to go forth, taking every invaluable experience from which you have developed in your four years along with you.
