Photo by: LaShauna Bell
As a soon-to-be college graduate, it’s easy to say that my academic journey has been a blast as much as it’s been an absolute nightmare. In the very beginning, back in 2013, for the very first time I understood the joy I felt cheering at my first collegiate level football game. Clad in my cheer uniform and equipped with Pom-Poms, I felt the thrills riveting throughout the massive crowds that filled the stands regardless of if it was the football team or the basketball team. The sensation of cheering on a team was unlike anything I’ve ever felt. I sacrificed my body for my love of cheer and an incident that took place after my second year injured me permanently. Which sucked. As an eager freshman I remember the joy of doing well on a test that I thought would take me all the way out, and I remember the horror of failing a test that I initially thought I’d pass. The parties, the never-ending bouts of procrastination, debates on giving up Jack Bucks instead of eating in the dining halls, choosing to nap when overwhelmed with homework assignments and projects. Anything and everything you can think of. I remember just about everything, and as I close this academic chapter in my life, I’m coming to grips with the fact that I’m going to miss it all, though not all of it the same.
The five years I’ve spent at good old Stephen F. Austin State University have given me a plethora of ideas on how I should carry on with the rest of my life and taught me about myself in ways that I wasn’t entirely expecting. I made lifelong friends and plenty of mistakes. I experienced love and heartbreak. During homecoming I experienced the thrills of the bonfire and watched fireworks bloom violently across the night sky. I grew to love my roommates, but experienced growth in sharing tight, confined spaces. It was on SFA soil that I cried, bled, and sweat. It was on SFA soil where I learned how to fight for what I believed in and speak up for those who couldn’t. My patience was tried here, but in turn I gained the mark of a humbled soul. The financial aid department will always hold a sour note in my heart though. SFA, in a nutshell, helped me be who I needed to be, and I’m entirely sad to close this chapter of my life soon… but in the same light, I’m ready to get on with my life because another year here would probably cost me my sanity.
That being said, to SFA, I would just like to say thank you for the experiences.