Editor’s note: Senior goodbye columns reflect on senior staffers’ experiences through high school and allow them an opportunity to share what they have learned with the school. Each senior Red Ledger staffer presents his or her personal perspective. One staffer’s column will be posted every day until all are published.
Dr. Seuss once said, “Sometimes you will never know the importance of a moment until it becomes a memory.” It may not really seem much to a freshman, sophomore, or even junior, but you will feel the deep meaning of this quote when the time comes.
I was accepted into Texas A&M around January, but I still wasn’t ready. I never was the type to open the acceptance letter in the mail and jump for joy. In fact, I don’t think I ever cracked a smile until I saw how proud my mom was for me. Why? Because it meant change. A change which would determine my future, force me to grow up, and leave family, friends and memories behind.
I always knew I would someday face college, but it felt so far away. I would be all on my own, with my family hours away. Knowing the great amount of work and studying that would fill my desk at night would just put a pit in my stomach. When you’re a senior, it seems like every adult you talk to brings up college, college and more college.
If you don’t know where you’re going, it’s pretty stressful. If you dread leaving the comfort of your environment at home, it is normal to feel sad or anxious, but don’t worry because your perspective on college will dramatically change.
During my freshman year, college never even crossed my mind. I, like handfuls of other freshmen who enter the school each year, was afraid to let loose, be myself and not care who saw. I was still embarrassed to get rowdy, chant for the home team, and, God forbid, dance in the cafeteria on Homecoming.
I didn’t loosen up until my junior year. That year I was forced to pay attention to college and count the number of days I had until graduation. I never wanted to leave and never thought the day would come. I started to get more involved in school activities with these thoughts in my mind. Cheering, having more fun, and embracing the moments I knew would one day only be a memory.
Senior year came, and it brought a strong sense of power. I didn’t fall ill to the infamous senioritis, which everybody claims to have even their junior year, simply because I didn’t want to grow up and face the fact that leaving for college is unavoidable.
There comes a time where my perspective changed on college, however. I never thought I would be able to do it, and, oddly enough, I changed overnight. I woke up and connected the dots that our time will all come someday, and unlike many aspects of life, you can’t control time. One day, instead of avoiding the subject of college, I embraced it. I embraced the time I had with my friends at school, my final soccer season with my buds, and cheered 10 times louder than I did my junior year. As a result, I am happily living my senior year with no regrets.
It’s okay to let your hair down a little bit and embrace the changes ahead of you. I wish I did earlier in my high school years and didn’t care about what others thought of me.
I promise that if you’re thinking about going to college next year and are scared of the change ahead, you will be ready. Embrace the time with friends and family, because you don’t want to be looking back at your high school years and only have memories of stress and anxiety.
