Less than one week until spring break. Just two months until graduation. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about time. The most powerful force in the universe, time is such a funny and scary and difficult concept to grasp.
And as I began thinking about the permanence and power of time, I found myself going back to a few months ago. One night, as we were sitting in the living room of our townhouse, one of my roommates asked me, “If you had a button sitting next to you right now that could take you back in time to move-in day freshman year, would you push it?”
Before immediately screaming “YES for the love of God please take me back to the Boom Boom Bus and 3-4-1s and let me stay in college forever,” I asked for a little clarification.
“Well, would everything happen the same?” I asked. “Not necessarily,” she replied, “You go back, but you have no memory of your previous four years at Ambrose and there’s no guarantee that everything will come out the same.”
And then I started thinking. I started thinking about all of the dumb mistakes I’ve made as a freshman—the ex boyfriend I’d rather not take a walk down memory lane with, the nights that went from beers to tears, and the classes that I barely survived the first time around. I started to think that maybe starting over and starting fresh would be kind of cool. Maybe starting over— in the same place, of course— would turn out better somehow.
But then I had to stop and ask myself, “Can it really get much better?”
Over the past *almost* four years at St. Ambrose, I’ve followed a weird and twisted path that has led me to who I am and the life I have today. How could I risk losing that with the push of this button?
In the last four years, I’ve met my future bridesmaids. I’ve learned how to drink alcohol without risking my life (most of the time, anyway.) I found out that people on Yik Yak are usually mean, but most people are generally good.
I’ve learned not to leave your phone unattended in the gym, even if you think you know everyone in there. I’ve learned that when you study abroad for five months, life doesn’t stop anywhere or for anyone else—even if you might not like that.
I’ve gone through break ups and meltdowns and witnessed the kinds of parties that I thought only existed in movies. I’ve learned that the best, purest, strongest love can come from people you’d never expect. I found that someone or something you never see coming could show you everything.
I’ve learned that you can’t please everyone, but you can please yourself. I’ve learned that your professors can be your friends, and that every single person you meet on this campus or anywhere in this world has something to teach you.
And, most importantly, I’ve learned that no matter how sad I am that my time at St. Ambrose must come to an end, I wouldn’t change it for all of the money in the world.
So it’s my wish for you—if you’re a senior now or when you become one— is that you wouldn’t push that hypothetical button. I hope you can look back at your journey and understand that every triumph and every trouble served a purpose.
Time is life’s greatest treasure, Bees, and these four years are the real life jackpot. Spend them wisely.