With graduation approaching, the emotions of my friends, sisters and classmates are ranging from denial to woefulness. But why wasn’t I as sad as my friends were to graduate? Of course, I would miss them greatly as well as all the crazy adventures we had the past few years, but all I wanted to do was graduate. I was ready for the summer; my last summer in New Jersey. I had so much to look forward to; a warm and sunny summer spent at the beach with my family and friends (when I wasn’t working endless shifts at Martell’s Tiki Bar), movie nights and escapades to LBI with Melissa, my partner in crime since the 6th grade (has it really been 10 years since then?), and everything else the summers of New Jersey has to offer. Once August comes along, I would be partaking in the biggest adventure of my life, the big move to Florida with my best friend, my future.
I was just ready to be done with the entirety of school. But then, the preparations for graduation began—starting with the arrival of the white, copious graduation tent—and my perspective began to change. It finally dawned on me that this would be the last time I would be living beside my closest friends. This would be the last time I would wake up in the morning, groggy-eyed and cranky and drag myself to the bathroom where I would come across my roommate, Kelly, sitting on the counter, cheery as ever and applying her mascara in the mirror. It would be the last time she would say ‘good morning’ in her jovial tone and I would reply with a tired grunt. It would be the last time I would spend my weekend at Murph’s, waiting for them to play ‘Don’t’ Stop Believing’ and staying until the lights came back on at 2AM. It would be the last time I pack up my belongings and move out of my room in the beautiful Springettsbury house.
Saturday came quick and before I knew it, I was dressed in the traditional black graduation gown; all that was left was to don my cap. In the next instant, I was emerging from Wolf Hall and making my way down the path to my seat in the second row. It was an incredibly surreal moment sitting in front of the graduation stage. Was I really here? Was this actually happening? Am I going to wake up in my Freshmen dorm, it all being a dream? Soon I realized I was walking up the stage to receive my diploma—it was actually a piece of paper informing us that our real diplomas would be sent via mail—while my name resonated through the loudspeakers. Now, I am a college graduate and it’s a notion that’s almost too hard to grasp. Where did the time go?
I guess all that is left to do is say thank you:
Thank you to you, Melissa for being one of my biggest supporters and always being there when I came home. Your pride and confidence in me in everything that I set out to do and accomplished never went unappreciated. There were so many things that I couldn’t of possibly done without your encouragement and love. I can’t wait for our summer adventure to commence.
Thank you to you, Dylan for being everything a boyfriend could possibly be. Though times grew difficult when we spent months apart, your calming reassurance and love were never as far away as you were from me. Thank you for always encouraging me to continue with my writing even when I couldn’t muster enough inspiration to create something new. I found that some of my finest works are because of you (and maybe about you; oops).
To Kelly and Emily, I owe more to you two than a ‘thank you’. It’s not an exaggeration when I say that living with the two of you for the past two years really changed my life. Kelly, you were the best roommate I could have possibly asked for; it still makes me smile to think about how we are practically the same person. Thank you for being a morning person when I wasn’t; it made going to class much more feasible. Thank you for putting up with my quirks—laughing at the shows I would watch, talking to myself, expressing my aggravation when Dylan takes forever to answer me, my many emotional bouts—and not judging me too severely. Thank you for showing me how to be a better person when I was faced with my ‘not-so-finest-moments’.
I never would have guessed that the quiet girl in my presentation group for Freshmen English would become my best friend, my sister. I found a life-long friend when I met you. Emily, well, our friendship began when we bonded over our mutual hatred for the Literature class we were both in and then realized we were both in long-term and long-distance relationships. Thank you for being the outgoing friend in the group, your boisterous Long Island personality is exactly what my shy personality needed. Thank you for providing an endless amount of laughs; whether it was your random tidbits of gossip or hiding under Kelly’s bed, mischievously waiting to scare her to the high heavens. Some of the best nights I’ve had were spent with you and Kelly (and Murph’s *cough cough*). I am going to miss our scary movie nights, times spent playing Murder in the Dark, late-night runs to Rutters and everything else in between. Thank you for being an amazing sister and even better friend. Cheers to us.
The tears finally flow down my cheeks as I write this to you. I am reluctant to say that yes, I am sad that I graduated, but I am so happy to have met the people in the journey that brought me to this moment.
