A year ago I wrote an article called “The Beginning of the End.” Even though I was publicly acknowledging this current chapter of my life, it still felt so far away when I typed those words last year. Now, I’m living the “lasts” I spoke about in that article, and in just a few weeks, I will have walked across the stage and made my way 2,000 miles back to my hometown one last time.
I remember when I left for college everyone told me these four years would go by so fast and I remember thinking that this was a crazy thing to say. Four years, at the time, felt like a lifetime and I couldn’t fathom that this big portion of my life would go by quickly. Now, I sit here, looking around this place I have learned to call home and wonder where the last four years have gone.
Four years ago I was announcing what college I was going to and attending prom with my high school friends. I was living with my mom thinking that I knew more than her and challenging her every word. To be fair, I had just decided what my fate would be for the next four years. I was not even 18 when I chose to take on moving across the country to San Francisco. I felt so mature and so ready for this big move. Now, here I am, four years later, gearing up for another big move, and I wonder where I got all the confidence four years ago.
I sometimes wish I could give the girl I was a big hug. She was scared and confused and felt like she was just doing what everyone else wanted her to do. It wasn’t until about six weeks into my first semester when an older adult in my life told me that I should be living for me, not for others that started my life as I know it today, to become who I am today. While this statement rocked my world at the time and caused some great shifts in my life, without this person’s encouragement I can honestly say that I am not sure I would be graduating college. Now, here I am, getting ready yet again to go on to bigger and better things.
My time in college has not been without its hardships. The biggest hardship being the pandemic we are still grappling with which took a particular toll on all of us. Whether these hardships be as big as a pandemic or as small as dramatic interactions with friends or peers, I have learned a lot of hard and good lessons throughout my time at the University of San Francisco. I am most proud to acknowledge that my list of good memories greatly outweighs the bad. The people I have met and the experiences I have had are irreplaceable.