This is it. It’s senior year. It feels like yesterday that you were moving into your freshman dorm excited and scared of all the unknown possibilities ahead. Now look at yourself. Be proud of how far you’ve come. Graduating college is accomplishment that not many can claim. Congratulations for working through those stressful nights at the library, enduring those horrible dinners at the dining halls and surviving heartbreak without your mom by your side. Feel proud of yourself for how far you have come.
You’ve created a home away from home on this campus. Your routine with your friends is down pat. Weekends consist of going to your favorite bar and walking to the pizza place on your way home. You’ll call your favorite cab driver and pile in, laughing about absolutely everything. Sundays are spent in the library still laughing about last night. Come Monday morning, it’s back to square one and looking forward to the weekend again.
Spend the next few weeks soaking up each of these little memories. Revisit your freshman dining hall one last time with your roommates, because that’s where all of these incredible memories started. Say yes to going out even if you have a test at 10 a.m. or if you’re just in a deep Netflix binge. Stay up all night watching the sunrise with your best friends by your side. Go to the bars in sweatpants because, why not? Get kicked out of the library for laughing too hard. Have a movie night in with your girlfriends instead of going to that frat party. Talk about your dreams and hopes. Discuss your fears. Don’t feel afraid—because chances are, everyone else is too. Most importantly, remember “you can retake class but you can’t retake life.”
In a short few months you will be looking back on this little world you have created with tears in your eyes, wondering what exactly you’re suppose to do next.
But don’t wish your life away. Don't look too far into the future. Don't rush your life just because you now have a diploma.
Don’t feel pressured to start your life because your friends are landing big jobs in big cities.
Travel the world. Fall in love with new places. Fall in love with yourself. Fall in love with the endless possibilities you now have ahead.
Senior year is a chapter closing but what comes next is full of beautiful, endless opportunities.
Yes, college is the time of our lives. But living doesn't stop at college. You’re 20-something years old. Spend this time daydreaming and wearing your heart on your sleeve. Read new books and discover new hobbies.
Don’t look at graduation as a deadline. Don’t look at is as anything. Look at the memories you have created and the beautiful people surrounding you. Time is nothing but wasted if you’re wasting your days away full of thoughts about things you cannot change.
“There will come a point in your life when you’re 71, wondering how it felt to have 5-year-old thoughts, 16-year-old dreams, and a 21-year-old heart.”
Live in the now, with no regrets.
