Homage to Seniors and the Lives We are Leaving Behind

So it is coming to that end, dreaded by some and embraced by others.   But the truth is, your life is changing.  As you sit at your desk feverishly applying for jobs you ask yourself, “How did I get here?”  Well, how did you get here?  Where did the time go?  It seems only yesterday you were dressing up like royalty for prom, rushing down the shore to lose yourself during beach week, and taking family vacations with the most important people in your life. 

You entered college hopeful, naive, open to the infinite possibilities before you.  A chapter of oversleeping and skipping class to lie in the grass, having your parents pay your bills that consisted of cheap beer, Doritos, and chicken tenders.  But who is to say that this is the end?

It’s funny when you look back at the people you have known for the past 15 years.  Little boys who chased you around on the playground; your neighbor who you camped out with in your backyard; the kid who sat next to you that went to Princeton.  Your best friend from home you shared everything with: your deepest secrets, your most vulnerable moments, your clothes when she forgot them at home, and even a crush or two. 

Your ex boyfriend who gave you your first kiss in the rain, who you used to support at all of his sport games, and who taught you exactly what you wanted in a man.  Where are they now?  Where did you leave them?  There is a strange sensation when you stumble upon pictures of yourself with these people.  You wonder how they are, if they were successful in their decision to continue their education, if they are in love, happy, and healthy, and what life would be like if you didn’t leave them.

Now you’re looking at those friends of yours you talk to every week – the girls you get a drink with ten minutes after you’ve gotten home, the girls you share job findings with and who you can go a month without talking to but nothing changes.  You remember when you all got together for prom pictures, when you screamed and cried as you discovered which colleges you were accepted into, when you would skip school to go to the beach, and when you first met them having to sit through an entire day of classes (remember those?).

Fast forward to your first experience living with another person.  Having to share things without your consent, needing to plan your dates around the availability of your room, holding her hair back and laughing about it the next morning.  Picking your first apartment out and hoping it was in the center of the social scene, learning what a “real” relationship was like without the barrier of your parents, and needing to remember to do homework when you’re busy watching reruns of the Real Housewives. 

These are the girls we want to lead us down the aisle at our wedding, the girls we share our beds with after a tough break, the girls we finish a bottle of wine with because it’s “good for our hearts.”  The girls you sit up late at night with planning your future, reminiscing the past, and detagging pictures on Facebook from an hour before.

Stop.  Where did the time go?  You’re now moving back in with your parents (or on your own), spending late nights with the best girlfriends you’ve ever had, visiting your college roommates all over the coast, and working (hopefully) in the industry of your dreams.  Even if you had to change majors three times, take summer classes at a community college, or test your luck with an internship that paid you in smiles, you survived.

When this chapter finally closes remember all the people who influenced your life: the good, the bad, the great, and appreciate everything they have taught you.  Remember, the knowledge you have gained is only the smallest portion of what there is to know and just because you’re turning the page that ends one chapter, a new one is beginning.