Looking Ahead - 4 months…here we go

Samantha Strub
Class of 2013

(2/2013) 4 months. It is the beginning of the end. Graduation is 4 months away. In four months, the Class of 2013 will walk across the stage and receive our diplomas to culminate four years of hard work. We will complete our undergraduate careers and move on to graduate school or a career. We will become upstanding citizens in the world and make a difference after our years of studying in college.

As this realization sinks in that graduation is four months away, there are a plethora of emotions that circulate through my mind. I’m excited, afraid, nervous and ecstatic all at once. It is unreal that the four years of college are almost over. It seems like just yesterday when I got my acceptance letter in the mail and I started to prepare to move five states away. Applying for jobs was something that seemed so far away, but now it is suddenly upon me. After completing Internship II, compiling my resume, cover letter and reference list has become a reality. Once those were completed, the task at hand became calling schools to see if they had openings. Usually that involved being transferred to the principal, and I then proceeded to introduce myself and explain my reason for calling. It is an incredibly nerve-racking task, but by the end of this job application process I will probably be a pro. It is all a part of the final semester of senior year. I’m thinking about and preparing for a successful future by planning ahead.

While I do have to look ahead to what comes next, I also have to focus on the task at hand—finishing my last semester. It is important to remember how much there is to experience in the coming months. I have grown so much over the past few years, but the opportunity that awaits me this semester is something that I must grasp. Seniors, we need to cherish the time we have at the Mount and take advantage of everything this campus has to offer us. Here are some suggestions to the Class of 2013 to make our final semester a memorable one.

Live it up. As the old saying goes, it only comes around once so live it up. You are only in your 20’s once. You only have one last semester of college. You only have one more chance to take the opportunity and run with it. You may never have the chance again. It’s our moment so make it count. Stay up all night (or at least until 5am) hanging out with your friends. Play cards all afternoon. Yell and cheer for your favorite football team while surrounded by your friends. Have a roommate dinner or have a dinner where everyone brings something to pass around and share. Help your friends with a project, homework or editing of a paper. Just do it. Don’t put it off for another day or next weekend. Don’t tentatively make plans, knowing they will fall through. Do the activities and hang out with the people that are really important to you. Make every memory a lasting one that will stay with you forever. Enjoy every moment.

Make a Senior Bucket List. There have been important moments when you put off doing an activity that you really wanted to do because you had impending responsibilities and duties to perform. Take a few moments before you fall asleep to make a bucket list of all the things that you want to do before you leave our mountain home. That list will entail different things for different people, but have fun with it. Go to college night at Mamma’s and Ott’s. Go to High Rock. Go to Big Slide. Go to a performance in the Delaplaine Fine Arts Center. Swim in the pool. Go up to the Grotto. Run all the trails on campus. Make a list and then make plans to make it happen.

Dream big. There is the saying that if your dreams don’t scare you, then they aren’t big enough. Always go after what you want out of life. This includes what you want out of your last semester. Make it everything that you have ever dreamed it should be. Make your last semester at college everything that you have ever dreamed college would be. You know what you want—get out there and make it happen. Never settle for anything less than what you deserve and always go after your dreams.

Work hard. Don’t slack off on your schoolwork just because it’s the last semester. Still work hard. Don’t forget your grades during the last semester will still affect your GPA. If you blow off your homework and assignments, you will regret it at the end of the semester. It is important to always stay on top of it and continue to stay focused on your studies because in reality, that is why you are here in the first place.

I have a full load this semester, so I will be very busy with my classes. However, I’m very excited because four out of my five classes are English classes. I have never taken that many English classes at one time before. That is scary and exciting at the same time. It’s exciting because these are all classes that I look forward to taking and I want the knowledge of my professors to enhance my own knowledge. It’s scary because I have so much reading to do. I will be reading the whole semester. That is how I will spend my days. I’m especially excited for "Shakespeare" and "Literature and the Environment." I am excited for "Shakespeare" because I have always thought of him as an influential man, and the class will be seeing one of his plays preformed professionally in D.C. at the Folger Theater. "Literature and the Environment" will encourage me to study a type of literature that I have never done before, using a perspective that is not traditional. We will be looking at British and contemporary literature and doing creative writing about nature. It should be a wonderful class.

Have Faith. The typical college senior will spend a lot of time worrying about what is coming next. He or she will constantly be thinking ahead and trying to make sure everything goes according to plan. It is very important to plan and accomplish all of the necessary tasks, but have faith that everything will work out. God has a plan for you, so trust that He will make everything turn out according to His plan. Do your best and let God do the rest.

4 months to go, MSM Class of 2013…there is a plethora to look forward to! Let’s make it count!

Read past editions of Samantha Strub's Four Years at the Mount