For the Seniors: Making This Last Semester Count

Seniors. We have spent 113 weeks, 791 days, 18,984 hours and 1,139,040 minutes on this campus, if not more. Whether it has been going to exchanges, working out with friends at the ARC, ordering pizza at 3 a.m. after a night out, or actually waking up on time to attend class, we have become accustomed to life in Champaign-Urbana.
 
We either live with our best friends, or they are a shout-out-the-back-window away. We plan our class and work schedule around Unofficial. Our pantries consist of Kraft Mac and Cheese (character shapes), peanut butter, a loaf of bread, Jake’s frozen pizza, Lean Cuisines, and hummus (anyone else?). Let’s face it, what once used to be a foreign place filled with over 40,000 unrecognizable faces has now become a sanctuary of comfort.
 
But now the time has come when many of us seniors are starting to go into panic mode. Where should I apply to grad school? What do you mean I don’t get a 3 month-long summer vacation (unless you’re going to be a teacher)? You want me to be at work at what time? All these questions have started flooding our brains, but for me the most dreaded thing to think about is not being able to see on an everyday basis the friends that I have made here, who have become what I can honestly say are the biggest part of my life. These girls, who only three and a half short years ago were part of that cluster of unknown faces, are now my go-to motivators, my sympathizers, my shoulders to lean on, my pick-me-uppers, my sisters, my family. Each and every one of us has that group of friends that are so in-tuned with your life that they know when you’re upset before you even realize you are.
 

After a tear-jerking minor mental breakdown this past winter break about future job plans, I had an epiphany. I am still in college! I still go to U of I and I still live with the best friends that I will never be able to replace. So why worry now? I need to be taking advantage of every minute I have left living in a town filled with 20-somethings and make lasting memories while I’m still in Chambana.
 
For this reason, I wanted use this article to motivate everyone out there, whether you’re about to take those steps towards graduation or are still swiping your lunch card at the 6-pack, to make every minute count in this unreal life we call college.
 
Get your group of besties together and come up with a bucket list of things to do. Have an Around the World party where every person has to decorate their room like the country of their choice. Have an appetizer and a drink from that country, going from room to room tasting the cuisine from that specific place. Maybe go to group fitness classes together and get each other motivated to work out together every Tuesday and Thursday night.
 
Plan something long term, such as running the half marathon together. This way you know you’ll have to train weekly and this guarantees time that can be spent together. Or do something that’s meaningful. It doesn’t have to be as extreme as getting matching tattoos together, but my friends and I all tied special Brazilian bracelets around our wrists that you’re supposed to make three wishes when tying the three knots around your wrists. The bracelets can stay on for close to 2 years and when the bracelets fall off your wishes will come true. Each time you look at your bracelet it will be a subtle reminder of the night you made your wishes with your best friends.

Or take Gamma Phi’s advice and gather everyone to go out to a new place for lunch every Friday. Jamie Levin and Christine Oleksiuk agree that “it’s a great way to branch out and try new places to eat in the area that we haven’t been to yet, while catching up with everyone after a busy week.” Or, you could take a more relaxing approach and follow what the Tri Delts do and choose a new meal to make at home every Sunday. Jennifer McConnell says “we really wanted to take advantage of having a nice, spacious kitchen while living together. We all take part in preparing the meal and each one of us invites a friend so we can stay in touch with people we don’t live with as well.” All these ideas are inspiring ways to make your four years here as memorable as possible.
 
So seniors, with the 15 weeks, 105 days, 2,520 hours and 151,200 minutes you still have left on campus, make the most of it! Go out and enjoy your time with your friends. You don’t want to be sitting in a cubicle next year punching numbers and realize that you really wish you would have climbed the wall at the ARC, or rung the bells at Altgeld. Don’t waste time, embrace it!