They always say to enjoy your years in college because you’ll wake up one morning and be graduating. They say that graduating college is one of the most exciting moments in your life. As I write this, I’ve been a college graduate for a day, and I can tell you that what they say is absolutely true. I can also tell you that there are things that they don’t tell you about graduation.
They don’t tell you that you’ll have to leave one of the most amazing jobs in the world. They don’t tell you that as you watch the students you’ve mentored over the past two years, you’ll start to cry. Not because you’re sad of course, but because you’re so proud of all of the work that they’ve put in. You know that graduating college is a bigger milestone for them than it is for you, because they’re the students that nobody would ever think would go to college, let alone graduate college.
They don’t tell you that you’ll have to leave the clubs you got involved with behind. They don’t tell you that maybe once you graduate, some of the clubs you loved will no longer matter to the underclassmen, and disappear. They don’t tell you that the club you started as a sophomore, that struggled to get off the ground, is actually going to continue to live.
They don’t tell you what happens the week leading up to graduation. They don’t tell you that you’ll be able to sign the scroll holding the names of generations of graduates. They don’t tell you that finals won’t be the hardest thing you’ll do that week. The hardest thing you’ll do is saying goodbye. You’ll say goodbye to the friends who have become your family. You’ll say goodbye to the faculty and staff that have made college home. You’ll say goodbye to the city that you’ve come to love. You’ll have your last adventures to Target with your roommate. You’ll work on completing your college bucket list, and finally do everything you’ve been meaning to do.
They don’t tell you that you’ll receive kind words from your professors throughout the week. Some will just congratulate you, others will want to talk with you, and share why it’s been wonderful getting to know you. Your department might even throw a party for you and the other graduates from your department. They don’t tell you that your professors will take the time to remind you have how much you’ve grown.
They don’t tell you that on the day of graduation, you still won’t feel ready. You’ll look at yourself and your friends all dressed up and wonder how you got to that point. You’ll still remember orientation as if it were yesterday.
They don’t tell you that during the line-up, you’ll do your best to find your friends from other departments so that you can hug them and take selfies with them. They don’t tell you that you can write whatever you want on the index card with your name. They’d prefer the pronunciation of your name, but if the professor reading the names is from your department, you and your friends end up deciding to write him kind words.
They don’t tell you that as you walk up to the stage, there will be a line of faculty waiting to shake your hand and/or hug you. They don’t tell you that the faculty from your department will be waiting on the other side to hug you in congratulations.
They don’t tell you that moving out of housing after graduation will be the hardest move out of your college career. Every bin you pack is another memory with your roommate. Every mile you drive away is one step closer to your next adventure, and one step farther away from the one you just had.
They don’t tell you that nobody and nothing will ever prepare you for graduation, and honestly, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
