At about this time every year, I start to reflect on the school year that has just flown by. This year, the reflection is filled with excitement, nervousness and emotions.  I will share with you some of the thoughts going through my head as I get ready to walk across the stage at graduation.

1. I really have to leave this place?

  • Whitewater has truly become my second home. I think a lot of students here love the close-knit community we have. This is the place in my life where I have discovered so much good. I’m not saying that my hometown is filled with bad. I’m saying that my struggles here have been manageable. Whitewater has been my escape.

2. Is it okay that I don’t have an extravagant full-time position lined-up for after graduation?

  • This is the hardest one to get over. I haven’t gotten a full-time job yet to start the Monday after graduation. Day by day I  become increasingly aware that I will not be working. I’m trying to view this as a break. I am trying to smile when I receive  rejection emails from companies. Those letters remind me that there is a plan for me that I am unaware of. I will get there. Maybe not today, tomorrow or next week, but I will.

3. How can I see everybody I want to with only a few days left here?

  • If there is one thing I HATE about college, it is that you find your best friends here. You grow with them, you laugh with them and you cry with them. Then, after graduation you find yourself without them. How can I make time to see these people for ‘one last time’ at our favorite hangout place?

4. It feels like just yesterday that I was. . .

  • It feels like just yesterday I applied to UW-Whitewater, but it also feels like just yesterday that I was graduating from high school. We all think about where we were and where we are going.

5. Did I really want to major in that?

  • This one is self-explanatory. Every student asks themselves this question at least ONCE. When I was finishing my final capstone project, I was editing the 10-minute video for almost 12 hours. I kept asking myself if this was really what I wanted to do? I have no regrets right now. Hopefully, I will say the same thing in 10 years.

6. Where will I be in 10 years?

  • I’m beginning to ask myself if I ever really focus on the present, the here and the now. I do, but I can’t help but wonder where I will be in 10 years. I just hope that I wake up everyday with a smile on my face.

7. What do I do now?

  • Seriously. Can somebody tell me what to do? No? Well, it’s all on me as I am in the driver’s seat.

8. I hope I made my parents proud.

  • This is a big one. My mom and dad have been there for me for everything. I am very lucky. Their faith in me has carried me through this experience. I only hope to make them proud with everything I do in the rest of my life.