It's my senior year of college. It feels like just yesterday I was stepping onto campus, looking around, eyes full of wonder. I had made the all too familiar mistake of taking 8ams for my first semester just because that's what I was used to. I didn't know where half of the buildings were, and I mispronounced most of them. I remember being afraid to utilize the library for studying and also not venturing out of the comfort zone of main campus. Now main campus is just an afterthought since most of my time is spent in the theatre. The first day of classes had me out of my first class earlier than expected so I just wandered aimlessly around campus, something that I no longer have time to do, which sucks because I should be taking in my last two semesters instead of watching them rush by. It's funny how when you're in your freshman year, you think you have the whole world ahead of you, that these next four years are going to drag on just like they did in high school. It's a lie that we tell ourselves early on and then the next thing we know it's time to register for graduation and our final semester of classes. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the next chapter of my life to being, but I would be lying to you if I said I wasn't terrified. I feel like I'm leaving home, honestly. The structure of college, while it's more lackadaisical than a high school schedule, and the stress of college (surprisingly) have made me feel like I was exactly where I needed to be, and now it's like the rug is being ripped from underneath my feet. I'm running around campus now, trying to take in as many sights as I can because I know in a matter of months, this will all be a distant memory for me. I can sit there and say how much I might dislike going to class, but deep down inside, I love it. Deep down inside, I'm going to miss it. Deep down inside, I don't know what I'm going to do without it...at least for a few months. When the real world hits, I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I'm trying not to worry about that right now. Right now, I'm trying to focus on what homework I have to do next, and what event I'm going to attempt to attend.

It's like everyone can't wait to graduate. It's human nature. In elementary school, we couldn't wait to graduate to middle school because we would be older. In middle school, we couldn't wait to graduate to high school because we would be older. In high school, we couldn't wait to graduate to college because we would be older and more independent. What happens when we graduate college? Are we excited that we're getting older? Are we excited that we're going to be in years of debt? Are we excited that we graduating into the real world? Who knows? I mean, I'm certainly not looking forward to years of debt or the real world or getting older, but it's something I have to deal with. What I can do is make the best of it. It's like a metaphor for college and life in general. When something doesn't go your way, you try to find the fun with it and move on. If you can't do that, you'll be miserable for a good chunk of life, and that's no way to live. When I walk across that stage next May, you can bet that there's going to be a million things running through my mind. What's my next move? Do I get a job? Do I move out of Florida? Do I go to grad school? Do I take a year off and travel? It's not even close to graduation and I'm already thinking most of these things. The good thing about being in your 20s is that you don't have to have all of that figured out right now. Of course, we all want to know what the future is going to hold, but we have to learn to take it one day and one step at a time. It's not expected that you have to have your life figured out by the time you graduate, but it sure would be cool if you did.

So, here's what I'm throwing down for all of my fellow graduating seniors who are in the same boat right now. Breathe. Yeah, I know, I can barely breathe either, mostly because of my asthma, but also because I'm panicking about leaving college. It's something I have to work on, and probably something you should work on too. It's going to be okay, we will get through this. We will stay focused, and we will get good grades and GPAs. Most importantly, take it all in. Go out of your way to do something new on campus that you've never done before. Explore. Meet new people. Join a few clubs. Do things that you set out to do your freshman year but never got around to doing. Sit on the library lawn and people watch. Love your school, because in a few months, you're not going to be back in classes each August and January. You'll be out there living your life, doing whatever it is that this school set forth for you to do. All you can do now is sit back, try to relax and enjoy this last ride.