Ut Prosim

The time has finally arrived. I have completed every assignment, written every essay, and put my books away. I have finished my tests, shaken hands, met so many great people and have lost a few along the way. As I sit in my apartment, letting that fact that I am Done with a capital "d", I cannot help but feel a wide range of emotions. I am relieved to have made it, to have been fortunate enough to not only have been able to go to college, but also to complete it. I am sad because I do not want to be done, not just yet. I love being a student, it's what I have been best at for 15 and a half years now. I am scared because I know I won't be a student and have to enter a very new and significant part of my life. And then I am proud, because I have made it this far. I have built within myself enough skill and confidence to know that I am capable, I am experienced, I can enter the "real world", especially with the support of everyone that has given me such tremendous love since I first set foot in Blacksburg, especially my parents. I am feeling all of this in this moment, as I decorate my cap and sign my appreciation stole.

I am done. I can't believe it. So much hard work, so many memories made, so much learned. So much has happened. I think back three and a half years ago and what my life was like and what has changed...

-I wanted to be an engineer
-and a physicist
-and a graphics designer
-I was single
-I did not know what Ut Prosim meant
-I had never cheered for the Hokies with fellow students
-Pancake night at IHOP (Tuesday) was the highlight of my week
-The dining halls were the only place to eat besides IHOP
-I was still trying to grasp the idea of a "roommate"
-I could not dance (and still really can't)
-I could not do calculus (and still really can't)
-I thought that the BT routes could get you anywhere in Blacksburg/Christiansburg (Christiansburg has a historic district?!)
-A four page essay seemed like the epitome of difficult assignments
-3 weeks was a long time to go without going home
-I still had Grandpa
-and Boni
-and Melissa
-and Linda
-I had never been to a funeral
-I had never been to a wedding outside of my family
-Virginia wasn't so big
-I did not know that the Hahn gardens existed
-or the CRC
-or anywhere beyond the limits of central campus (besides Walmart. Walmart definetly existed)
-Deets was the place to be after 9 pm
-10 pm was late
-8 am was early
-I thought that college was going to take foreverrrrrrrrr

But here I am, with nothing left to do but wear my cap, gown, and five pieces of graduation regalia and try to successfully make it across the stage. I am ready. I am capable. I am a Hokie, now and always.