The jig is up. I've had my last fling as a junior and it's time to admit to myself that I am a senior and graduation is in a month.

Each year, Saint Mary's and Notre Dame plan parent weekends, and to me these are rights of passage that signify growth and maturity. I went to Rome last spring, so I missed Sophomore Parent's weekend. But I wasn't really a sophomore by then. I missed Senior Dad's weekend while I studied in Washington, D.C. last fall. I was a senior by then, but there was nothing I could do.

So, a couple weeks ago, I asked my mother if she wanted to come up for Junior Mom's Weekend. She said yes, although she reminded me that I wasn't really a junior.

We had a great time, and after she left Saturday night, I cried. I cried because she'd been there and then she was gone, but I also cried because I knew that there was no chance or time for me to lie to myself anymore. I had to tell myself the truth.

The truth is, I'm not even 21 yet and I will graduate in May. I was one of the "lucky" ones who took a lot of advanced placement tests in high school, and came into college with a lot of credit from them, but even though I've saved a lot of money because of it, I still don't know if I would do it again.

The truth is, it is so hard to spend one semester saying hello to long lost friends and making new ones when you know you will only be there until May. It is so hard to do activities with your graduating class when the class of your youth and your heart has another year to go through the hard stuff. It is so hard to grow up and graduate and go to law school when you are so much younger than everyone else.

What I have learned is that if you have friends, family, and a school or two behind you, pulling for you, no matter how hard things get, you will be okay. You will graduate, and it will be worth it.

Thank you to my family, my friends, my professors, and my school: from Le Mans to Rome to Washington D.C. to Regina, I have had three wonderful years as a Saint Mary's woman. I know now that I will always be a Saint Mary's woman, just not always on campus.

• Facing the Facts