It's Official!

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I'm a college graduate!!!  It was a LOT of work, but I did it!  

College was an amazing experience.  I went to plays, watched musical performances, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, rode around with a cop for most of a shift, job shadowed someone, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, attended various events that I would not have had the opportunity to otherwise, read a bunch of incredibly dull textbooks, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, met some amazing people, got into the art museum for free every year, wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay, went to the aquarium for a class assignment, got up super early every day, spent most weekends and breaks doing massive amounts of homework, and oh, did I mention that I wrote essay after essay after essay after essay after essay?!  

I remember at the end of my very first semester that a friend who was graduating said to me that she always felt like someone would approach her and say that she wasn't really smart enough to attend college and that she clearly had no idea what she was doing!  I thought I was at least somewhat smart before attending school, but quickly learned that I really didn't know much of anything - about anything!  While I definitely learned stuff from all the textbooks and research, I learned much more about myself.  

This past semester was particularly difficult.  I took on 17 credits, had two very time consuming class projects, worked, and had a bunch of personal stuff going on.  But I made it through, and am very proud of myself.  I made the Dean's List again, with 4 A's and a B.  

The ceremony was really nice.  It was three hours long, but didn't really feel like it.  I sat next to a friend, and we chatted about what we thought our lives might bring now.  He's headed to law school in London.  I have no idea what direction my life is heading.  

I felt bad that my dad couldn't be there with me, but there was a point in the ceremony that a wide smile came over my face suddenly, and I could feel him in my heart.  He couldn't be there physically, but he was there in spirit.    

As much as I'm glad it's all over, I know I'll miss it.  I tried to take it all in at the end, but it was so hard because I had sooooooooooo much homework.  One class had an extensive reading list each week.  Somehow, I had at least 2 essays every. single. week. and sometimes more.  Those class projects were extremely tedious and time consuming.  It was hard to keep on top of everything, but I had to because I knew it would all be over if I ever fell behind. 

The first week of June I'll be atttending a weeklong leadership course offered by my school.  Luckily, I was offered a scholarship so I don't have to pay.  One of my friend's will be attending too, so I'm looking forward to catching up with her.  
And then...  Who knows what the future will bring?  I'm scared to death, but also excited to find out!

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