Suddenly, I am a quarter of the way through my senior year. I have begun applying to my next opportunities, enjoying the first of my lasts and soaking in my final few months walking across 24th street. Through the senioritis, I have talked to my friends about feelings of anxiety, excitement and sadness over what is next. From these conversations, I have concluded that, though I will be sad at what is lost when I am no longer in college with my friends, I am not afraid to grow up.
Every year, I like to spend New Year’s reflecting on the year behind me and what’s ahead. I like to ask my loved ones to ponder what they are proud of and what they aspire to include in their lives going forward. Through this practice, I am continuously struck by how every year is great and even better than the last. Every year, I have become more myself. I gain more people to love and learn from, I make more mistakes I can grow from, I have new experiences, I make more memories and I gain more confidence in myself and my abilities. Aging, to me, has never signified something being lost or ruined, but instead becoming closer to who I am and who I aspire to be.
I have been thinking recently about everything throughout the past four years that I never would have expected when I decided to attend Creighton. I’ve made some of the best friends I’ve ever had, lived in a new country, discovered what I was passionate about, laughed, cried, failed, succeeded and had every other experience not easily captured in a recruitment brochure. Yes, it is scary to not know what lies ahead, but I have to remind myself that I felt that way four years ago and was rewarded beautifully.
It is easy to look at the past with rose-colored glasses and toward the future with fear and uncertainty. I am lucky to have had an amazing undergraduate experience, and I will continue to relish it, but I would be betraying myself by acting like college is the last time I will have fun, be happy and enjoy being young and free. These four years of undergrad have built me up and given me the tools to create a wonderful life for myself after I graduate; I might as well embrace it.