Wait...Senior Year?

Woah, that happened quickly.

Over the past couple days, I've been thinking about how weird it is to finally be a senior in college. In a way, it's the moment I've been waiting for since starting my career here at Saint Michael's, but it's also the strangest, most anxiety-causing part of my life currently. What happens after this? What do I do once I graduate? Do I stay in Vermont? Do I leave? What about all my friends? What about getting a job?

Obviously I'm a chronic over-thinker, and being a senior is not helping at all. Yet, even with the anxiety of senior year and graduating, I've found a balance of good things.

Of course, being 21 does have its perks, but I don't really care all that much about alcohol. Being able to go out with friends to bars and to have a drink on the weekends to relax is nice, but there's something else about being a senior that's even better - appreciation.

Since transitioning into senior year and realizing the "real world" is coming so soon, I've found myself appreciating so many things around me much more that I used to take for granted all the time. For example, I've picked up riding my roommate's bicycle nearly every day since school started and appreciating the beautiful Saint Michael's campus and the breathtaking foliage that comes with a Vermont autumn season. I've been making plans with friends more often. I've been more attentive than ever in class. I've been trying to soak up every little bit of college life that I can because I know it's my last year, and I couldn't be more grateful for it.

I get to walk this path to my townhouse every day - just the fact that I live in a townhouse is pretty awesome.

Kathryn, Paul, Jesse and I walking to Alliot for dinner. I'm definitely soaking up my time with these goons.

A gorgeous view of one of the academic buildings covered in autumn leaves.

Every day feels so surreal, and they all seem to go just as quickly as they come. Hard to believe I'm already on my fifth week of my senior year when it feels like I was just a freshman yesterday. While I may be sad to be leaving Saint Michael's soon, I'm also excited to take all the things I've learned, experiences I've had, memories with the people I've met, and the growth I've experienced within myself and use it somewhere out in the big world. Sometimes I still think of myself as a kid, but I suppose every 21-year-old college senior feels that way from time to time. The truth is that I'm more grown up than I think, and a world of change is coming very quickly.

In short, please enjoy your college years. Reach out to people. Get off campus sometimes. Put yourself out there. Make new friends. Be risky. Go on trips. Study abroad somewhere. Explore your options and find what you love. Don't let the stress weigh you down and be happy.

All I know is that college is a short four years, and you don't want to think back after graduation and wish you'd done it all differently.