Tests. Classes. Teachers. Grades. Homework. GPA. Diplomas. Degrees.
Eighteen years.
Nine years of grade school, four years of high school and soon-to-be five years of college. Eighteen damn years I’ve been dealing with this school non-sense. But, I’m almost done.
To be completely honest about it, I can’t believe I made it this far. I’m one of the worst students I know. Some of it’s my fault, I know, but I can’t help but think that some of it isn’t. I promise you that I’m the worst test-taker in the history, no matter how much I study. But, I made it this far.
And in four short weeks, it will all be over. Scary. I can’t help but sit here and *shake my head.* Where did the time go? It’s kind of hard for me to deal with sometimes.
I remember feeling like this when I graduated from high school. You don’t really want to leave, but you know that your time has come. When I graduated from high school, I knew I would be going to college. When I graduate from college I know…..I’ll be…..moving home? That’s about my only certainty right now.
It’s a strange feeling not knowing what comes next. Really scary. I mean, what can you do? Sure, I’m doin the whole applying for jobs thing. But, there’s a part of me that’s thinking, “Do I have to graduate? Can’t I stay? No! Don’t make leeeeeaaaave!”
I know every college graduate goes through it. Some of my friends can’t wait to graduate. I feel like that on occasion. The whole thing is very bitter-sweet.
I never thought I would say this, but damn it, this place is a part of me. Mount Pleasant…well, not so much Mount Pleasant…but CMU. (Seriously, I hate this shit-ass hick town.) But, Central has a piece of my heart forever. Going to college here has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me.
Not only did I get the opportunity to go to college, I found something that I believe is my calling in life: writing.
It’s really crazy how I came to be a journalism major. I never, ever thought about writing seriously before college. When I got here, I thought I was going to be a computer science major. Stop laughing!
Sounds cheesy to say, but I truly believe that fate had something to do with it. But I am so very glad it did happen, because damn! I really do love it when it works. Writing, that is. When it works, it’s the best feeling in the world. You just want to go, “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeoooohh!” Yeah, I like it.
Man…I made a lot friends here. More than I ever imagined. Some were pretty cool, some were full of shit. It’s easy to tell the difference for me. But I know who is true and who isn’t. Fortunately for me, I did make some true friends.
Friends. That’s what I’ll miss the most. For me, that’s what school is and was all about. School may be for 18 years, but true friends will be for a lifetime.
And the females! Ahhhhhhhhh! Don’t get me started. Geeeeez. Quite possibly my favorite thing about college, to be straight up with you. Do you blame me? You better not…hater.
I don’t know. Maybe this whole schooling thing actually does work. I always had so many doubts. I always talked shit about school. It’s just such a long, on-going process that lasts almost your entire life. My view was that school is just a means to an end. Get your degree, get a job. Work the rest of your life. I always preferred the idea of street smarts over book smarts.
But there’s so much more…so much more to college than classes and tests. I finally learned that. College doesn’t just teach you about B.S. that you learn in your classes. College can teach you about life if you let it.
Maybe you just have to realize that school isn’t the most important thing in life.
I remind myself to take a step back once in a while. Put things in perspective.
The best thing in life, is life.
~ Mike D
