Freshman year feels like yesterday. It feels like only a short time ago I called Chitwood home and ate Chick-fil-a every day at Sam's. Now, I'm only a few short months away from graduating, becoming an alumni, and moving on to the scary place called the real world. I know it'll all go by way too fast, so I might as well enjoy these things all Texas Tech seniors know to be true before I'm walking the stage:

1. You walk across the street without looking even one way, never mind both ways.

Freshman are waiting patiently on the sidewalk until there aren't any cars, or until the cars stop, to cross the road. But you have places to be and honestly don't care much if a car hits you.

2. You don't even try to hide the fact that walking up 3 flights of stairs almost killed you.

It doesn't matter what building you're in, if you have a class on the third floor it feels like you're climbing a mountain. You used to try to regulate your breathing so no one would realize how out of shape you are, but now you don't care and are huffing and puffing all the way to class.

3. Lubbock's ~smells~ don't bother you anymore (at least as much as they used to).

It's a normal thing that you've mostly gotten used to. Whenever Lubbock is having one of ~those~ days, you just kind of accept it.

4. You're giving it your all at tailgates and football games.

After all, these are the last games where you'll be attending as a student. You have to make the most of them.

5. You throw tortillas without fear.

You used to scan the area before tossing a tortilla at kickoff to make sure the staff wouldn't catch you. But now you throw tortillas fearlessly.

6. You probably still don't know all the words to the fight song.

It's okay, you know the words that matter.

7. You might have a "bucket list" to accomplish before graduation.

Attend every football game. Go to Carol of the Lights one last time. Attend basketball games, baseball games, and soccer games. Go to Lubbock's best restaurants.

8. Senioritis is real.

Going to class is hard. Studying is hard. You don't want to do anything...

9. So is the stress of graduating with an impressive resume.

...But you're about to ship off your resume to all your dream companies, so you need to make sure it's full of leadership experience and an impressive GPA.

10. You're tired all the time.

Even when you plan on going to bed at 10 p.m., you end up going to bed at 2 a.m.

11. You're spending every minute you can at Chimy's.

You know there are Chimy's locations in a few other Texas towns, but the one in Lubbock is undoubtedly the best.

12. You're treasuring every moment with your friends.

You're beginning to realize that once you graduate you're not going to be seeing your friends every day. You might get jobs in different cities, find different roommates, and adapt to completely different schedules. The times you have now where you're always together are coming to an end and you have to treasure every moment.

13. You're emotional about a lot.

You're emotional about your last football games as a Red Raider. You're emotional about not seeing your best friends every day after you graduate. You're emotional about leaving stinky ol' Lubbock behind. You're emotional about the stress of classes, and even more about the stress of finding a job. You're basically a mess.

14. You know your Red Raider pride won't die down after you graduate.

Once you graduate, Texas Tech might be out of sight, but it will never be out of mind. Your blood will run red and black forever.