Sitting here in Beeghley Library writing this editorial, I start to become nostalgic by the thought that I have only three months left to sit in this library doing schoolwork.
The bittersweet emotions of moving on from college and into the real world are starting to set in. As I send out applications for summer internships, it begins to feel real.
Every time I click the âSubmit Applicationâ button on my computer, the future inches closer and closer.
OWU is my home. It has been for the past four years, and I have found an incredible sense of comfort here.
I have always been horrible at saying goodbye to people, places and even things. I cannot imagine walking around next year and making it ten steps without seeing a familiar face waving and smiling at me. The friends you make in college will always hold a special part in your life, but the idea of not being able to see them everyday is heart wrenching.
Saying goodbye to not only friends, but nights spent in Clanceyâs or The Backstretch will be reserved for the times when group reunions come back to pay the university a visit.
No more Beehive Books or Mean Bean study sessions.
No more Blackboard assignments or articles to read on ERes before class.
No more daily iced coffee visits in the Zook Nook or late night caffeine with Big E.
No more signing up for classes to take in the next semester, because the next semester is life.
Having learned so much at this university, I know that when I walk across the stage this May I will be prepared for the next chapter.
Understanding that journalism is a hard industry to get into these days, the feelings of positivity come in waves.
OWU has taught me the necessary skills I need to be a professional, and understand the challenges that I will soon endure.
Independence is one of the biggest skills Iâve learned these past four years. Freshman year brought me to this new and exciting campus with a shyness that I now have shed.
It has made me able to speak up in classes, take control in group projects, and volunteer myself for more things than I could have ever imagined before.
Setting up meetings with my professors during their office hours is something I would have never considered doing my freshman year.
In order to achieve goals, you must put yourself out there. You must believe that you are more than what you give yourself credit for. I know that I pushed myself and challenged my insecurities.
This May I will leave OWU with the satisfaction of trying out many things.
Playing a sport, taking classes I would have normally avoided such as computer science or linguistics, working in Special Olympics, making strong relationships and friendships that will last beyond OWU are all things that I have learned to love and find the most difficult to say goodbye to.
If I hadnât had any of these experiences, I wouldnât be the independent woman I am today.
I will miss OWU next year so much and am so grateful of all it has offered me.