As convocation approaches, I've been forced to evaluate the last few years I've spent here at Longwood. I've kind of been going through somewhat of a "quarter-life crisis." As August has already come and gone, I've had mixed feelings of regret and relief; regret for some of the mistakes I've made, and regret for the things I never did.
Every year, all I've heard is to enjoy these days, they are the "best years of your life." That expression has always bugged me. I would always think, "So this is as good as it's gonna get?" I certainly hope these years I've spent in college have not been the best years of my life. Why would anybody want to peak before they hit their mid-20's? The thing that bugged me even more was I knew what people meant when they said that. And for some reason, I knew I wasn't living up to what my college years were "supposed" to be.
I've spent four years in school trying to find myself and where I fit into the grand scheme of things. This hasn't always been an easy task. Coming to college is a bizarre experience, really. I feel like people can come here and lose a little bit of who they are. Things change, and everything seems to happen so fast. People define you by the mistakes and choices you make when you aren't necessarily prepared for the consequences. I kept getting the feeling that my life was standing still and everyone else was moving along, and enjoying themselves.
I've had to grow up a lot during these last four years, and in that time I've had to accept a lot of things about myself, others, and life in general. For one, life is not perfect. I know this is not such a far-fetched concept, but when you go to college and are surrounded by so much idealistic thinking, it's almost like living in a fantasy world. I've learned that true friends are supposed to stand by you through the lowest of lows.
10 years from now, it won't matter what organizations we were a part of, how much we partied, or what our GPA was. Some people will break out of their shells and blossom, some of us will face some pretty rough bumps along the way, and some of us will learn absolutely nothing. But at the end of the day, that's life, and it doesn't stop once we've graduated. If we're lucky, it only gets better from this point on.
My time here is what it is, and now that I've accepted that, it's unfortunately nearing the end. I've made some lifelong friends that I would do anything for, and they would do the same for me. I've met professors who have changed my life, who saw through to my potential and believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. I've experienced the good and bad, and all that's in between, and made memories that I can only hope will last me a lifetime.
To all underclassmen: enjoy your time here. As many times as you've probably heard this, it goes by too quickly to not embrace it for all that it is. Talk to your professors, go to class, have fun, and make friends that accept you for you. Join organizations, and take as many opportunities available to you. A wise teacher of mine once told me a quote by baseball legend Yogi Berra: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it!"
And to the graduating class of 2012: this is our time. All we can do is make the best of the present, learn from the past, and strive for a better future. Be sure to laugh along the way, and never take yourself too seriously. As cliché as it may sound, our futures are in our hands now. Life comes with lots of unexpected twists and turns, but if we're lucky we all land back on the straight and narrow. Have faith in others, but more importantly, never lose faith in yourself.
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined."
- Henry David Thoreau
