"So, pretty much, you chose to lock yourself in a convent for the past four years. I mean, you are close enough to NC State that you had access to some fun I suppose. But I bet you are glad to be graduating soon!" Actually, I don't regret choosing Meredith for one second, and leaving will be bittersweet. As of Feb. 22, there were 75 days remaining until graduation. The end of that time period will mark the end of academic chaos (or at least the beginning of a break from the chaos before grad school, for those who chose that route). It marks the beginning of of adulting — full-fledged adulting! No longer is the question, "What do you want to do when you grow up?" but instead it's, "What career path are you pursuing?" It will be impossible, at any age, to know with absolute certainty what you want to do. However, what is possible is to have the goal of seizing the best opportunities you can and making the most of those opportunities. With that game plan, an ultimate failure is nearly impossible to achieve. While contemplating the logistics of how I am going to build up my life post-graduation, I can't help but feel an overwhelming gratitude towards Meredith.

When I first came to Meredith as an official student back in July 2012, I was still intimidated with the idea of how to build up a life post-high school graduation. For all the hype that is attached to any graduation comes a degree of anxiety. It's a reminder that hey, this is your big break; go out and make something of yourself. It's easy to find some abstract concepts of what you want to be and where you want to go, but the technicalities of how to get there can be really overwhelming. But, as Henry David Thoreau once said, "If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them." Meredith helped me to build those solid foundations.

First and foremost, it is close to impossible to get lost at Meredith, neither physically lost (hey, we are a really small campus) nor academically lost. There is an abundance of one-on-one interactions made possible by our small class sizes and enthusiastic staff. When you don't show up to class, professors take notice. When you try to slide by a class period without speaking a lot, professors take notice. Furthermore, office hours are expected to be used. The professors are approachable and genuinely care about getting to know you. By the end of the semester, they remember a lot more about you than just your name. They genuinely care about the progress you make after you leave their class and about the goals you are working toward. They want to hear updates and many of the good ones have a tendency to demand updates. Before leaving Meredith, you have a tool belt of lifelong career and personal contacts. Never will you feel better about asking for a recommendation letter because you realize you are genuinely understood.

The small size of our school and our close-knit community translates into a high degree of access to a myriad of opportunities. In fact, it is easier to accidentally fall into opportunities than it is to leave Meredith without any extracurricular experience under your belt. Now, this doesn't mean that just existing in the Meredith environment will get the work done for you. As Meredith Angels understand all too well, it is easy to overcommit to on-campus opportunities. This requires an ultimate prioritization of the opportunities you want to dedicate yourself toward and realizing which ones you ultimately have to drop in order to reach the desired end destination. As tough as these decisions may be, they represent ideal problems to have. The over-scheduled, overcommitted freshman year is a critical right of passage, helping students to get a better understanding of what they like, who they are and where they want to go.

Second, there is the all-female aspect of our school. Though there are mixed perspectives on the subject, even on our campus, the lack of male students allows the college to specifically tailor content. We are able to look closer at the female perspective on issues and explore the specific ways women conquer the world. How do you plan a career when you want to incorporate a family? Why should you plan ahead for the possibility of a divorce? How do you handle salary negotiations? What's the appropriate dress code for the workplace and interviews? Here at Meredith, we are able to raise concerns specific to our student body and we have a very comfortable atmosphere to do so.

Also, not having men in classes translates to more women students finding their voice in the classroom. All too often in classrooms, it's the men who dominate the discussions, and it's the women who remain in the background. Classes at Meredith are designed to get women talking and increase their comfort in discussing their opinions. Thus, even after graduation, Meredith graduates will have discovered how to make themselves heard, even in male-dominated industries. Once you get accustomed to being heard, there is only so much tongue biting that one can do before they rediscover their voice, no matter the environment they find themselves in.

At Meredith, I built the required solid foundations to pursue my adult life. After graduation, I will begin climbing the staircase toward the castle I've been eyeing for so long, forever reminded of the solid foundations that made the existence of this staircase possible. Thank you, Meredith.