When I walked on campus three years ago, I thought college would never end. It seemed like I had endless amounts of time in front of me, three years seemed like a lifetime. Now, as I sit more than a third of the way through my final semester at TCU, I'm confused as to where all that time went.

That freshman girl I was couldn't imagine being able to count the home football games she has left as a student on one hand. Heck, she couldn't imagine a day when she hadn't stepped foot in the dining hall in over a year. She couldn't imagine choosing a major, let alone knowing what she was doing after graduation. She couldn't imagine the friends she would make that made college seem so much like home. She couldn't imagine making plans for graduation and finding her first adult home. And she definitely couldn't imagine how the end of college would feel.

Now, as I sit here with so many of the college milestones behind me, there is only one word I can use to describe the final semester of my undergrad career: bittersweet.

Let me start with the sweet parts. Sweet because of the promise of a new and exciting future. Sweet because I get to go out in the world and apply the knowledge I spent the last three years gaining. Sweet because I'm moving to a new place that offers new opportunities and friendships. Sweet because I'll get to experience world outside of college.

But coupled with all that sweetness comes the bitterness of the end. Bitter because I'm leaving friends who became like family. Bitter because all of those friends are moving to different parts of the country and pursuing their own paths, paths that don't necessarily intersect anymore.

Bitter because I won't be able to call myself a college student for much longer. Bitter because I won't be standing in the student section of football games yelling my heart out. Bitter because I won't be able to take spontaneous weekend road trips or stay out too late on school nights. Bitter because I won't even have school nights anymore. Bitter because the experience I thought would last a lifetime is now within the numbered days.

It's a strange feeling when something is so deeply bittersweet. It's hard to blend such excitement with sadness. But it also means that I HAD something so hard to say goodbye to and I will HAVE something so wonderful to look forward to.