I've had the time of my life... and I owe it to TWU

It's spring again, which means that the school year is drawing to a close. Once again I enter that final sprint for the finish line which is full of those final hurdles of the semester. Those final projects, presentations, and research papers that professors save for the final month of school and which are always (coincidentally) due in exactly the same week for all my classes. No matter how much I plan my semester out by making myself reading and project schedules, this phase of the semester always seems to come out of nowhere. Contrary to popular belief (read: my mother) I don't procrastinate (at least on purpose). I have been working hard to keep up in all my classes and not allow things to fall away. However, despite the fact that this may be my least heavy semester (credit-wise) in all my four years at University, this seems to be one of my hardest. I think this is in part to the fact that two of my three classes are project based classes. Projects which are both worth the majority of the grade in the course and which take quite a lot of my 'free' time.

Thinking of all I have to finish, makes me reflect on the fact that this last month will not just be an end to a semester or an end to a year, but it will be the end of something much greater. It is the end of my education (at least institutional education). In a little over a month, I will walk up on stage on front of my peers, professors, friends and family and receive my BA. This is a huge step for me, not just in the obvious way, but because I am the first in my family to do so. And while my family seemed to have the faith that I would finish, there were times that I wasn't sure. School can sometimes be a huge burden to carry, and when you are pulling hour 15 on a research paper and are running off of copious amounts of caffeine just to stay awake, you sometimes wonder if it will ever be worth it. Now that it is finally within reach however, I am glad that I pushed through all the tough times and worked hard for four years to get to this point.

This time of year is usually very reflective for me, but this year I also find myself feeling slightly melancholic. Now don't get me wrong, I am very excited about graduating from University. However, I am also quite sad to be leaving a place which in so many ways has become a part of me. For four years I have lived on this campus. It has become my home in many ways. I have made so many friends here, some of which I know will be friends I will keep for life. Two of which I call my best friends, roommates, soul-mates. We are bonded by philia and they will forever be an engrained part of who I am. I came here four years ago, knowing no one, and now as I prepare to leave this place, I know whole-heartedly that I will never regret a single moment that I have spent here. The memories (the good and the bad) are many and I have learned so much. Not just in the classroom, but outside as well, and these lessons that I have learned will continue to guide me even after I leave this campus.

In many ways, my university experience has not been extraordinary. I go to class and do homework like any other college student. I complain about my professors at time, and definitely complain about the papers or projects that I am staying up to all hours of the night to finish before they are due. However, in other ways, I know that my time at University has been special. I have gotten to know my professors well and develop relationships with them that span outside the classroom. Just this past Friday all the graduating COMM majors were invited to dinner at one of our professor's house. All the COMM profs were there and were able to share memories about the last four years, as well as talk about where we thought we were all going to do after we left TWU. The profs shared some of their memories of us, as well as shared some well-recieved advice about the 'real world'.

I feel so blessed to be able to be at this point of my life. It scares me on some levels, because there are days (and hours and minutes) where I get a stricken feeling that I am not going to be prepared enough for the trials waiting for me. And then there are other times when I know that I just have to take a breath and have faith that it will all come together in the end. God has provided for me thus far and I know he will continue to provide for me in the future. I just need to remember to take one day at a time.