There comes a magical time in every college student’s life that gives them a spark of excitement in their eyes. A time they anticipate yet slightly fear all at once. It consists of two little words that mean more than words could describe: senior year.
Once senior year creeps its way into your life, you instantly think, “Where the heck did the time go?!” or “Senior year is finally here!!” The cliche mindset of the year of lasts begins to make its way into your life, and you’ve got a game plan set for the year. Whether it’s all the trips to the bars you plan to squeeze in before May to your last recruitment season to even your last set of finals, you’ve got the list going, and you are ready to conquer. But what if there’s another side you are missing beneath the hype that senior year brings? Something so simple it really goes unnoticed? You.
Yes, senior year is a wonderful time to celebrate with your friends and count the days until you walk the stage, but what if you stop to think about yourself and how you have grown and all that has changed? Have you grown in any way, shape or form? Did you transfer colleges due to personal reasons? The list could go on and on.
It’s always good to see just how far you have come since the beginning of something; in this case, it’s your transition throughout college. Reflecting can either rejuvenate you in seeing how you’ve grown as a person or it can remind you about something you haven’t yet taken care of or a goal you still need to meet. But from it all you can see the change that happened to you and make you feel excited and accomplished.
My own college years have played out differently than I would have ever expected, but “that’s life” as they say, and you just have to go with it. I’ve had plenty of ups and downs, changes, a heartbreak, love, new friendships and so much more. But looking back, all I have gone through up until now has made me who I am today, and I wouldn’t change a thing. My family, sorority sisters, classes and all other factors have impacted my life in either a positive or negative light, which caused me to change things for the better.
Maybe you came into college still with your high school significant other and it sadly ended after a bit, or you took this class you were kind of interested in and it soon led you to a new major that you simply love, or you even decided to go out for president of your organization. No matter what it was, it taught you life lessons that you hopefully still carry today in your senior year. All the little things that happened in your first three years have made you into the person you are at this very moment. I always say that things are always a lesson and you have to find out what that lesson is and learn from it. College has given me a lot of lessons that I will for sure be taking with me once I graduate and enter adult life. So take some time and reflect on your past three years and think of all the things and changes you’ve encountered, and see just how they have made you into you.
