The end of the semester is approaching and with it the shock for seniors, like me, that pretty soon decisions are going to have to be made about what life beyond South Bend will be. With these decisions many commitments are being made, and others broken.

While home over the break my best friend from high school shocked me with her pronouncement that she was becoming a nun.

Now I shouldn't say that it was a complete shock because it is something she has been considering for a couple of years now but I never actually thought she would do it.

Now it's not like you can just wake up one day and say, "I think I'm going to be a nun," and you can just join a convent like that. It is a major commitment and it will take her several years to actually receive the title of Sister.

Apparently there are three levels before you make final vows. First there is postulancy, when you live in the convent for one to two years, then there is novitiate, which is the beginning stage of religious life and is another two years, and then there is the junior professed stage, which is the first profession of vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. It is only after five years of yearly renewing these vows that perpetual vows are taken and only then will my friend give herself forever to God.

The time and contemplation that goes in to becoming a nun has made be aware of the commitments many seniors are making, especially when I consider the amount of seniors becoming engaged. Marriage is just as an important commitment as a vocation but it worries me when so many today seem to rush to get married. When you consider that the divorce rate in America hovers around 50 percent, maybe a longer period of time between becoming engaged and married should be made. It's not that I don't believe young people are capable of making long term commitments; my parents were married at 18 and have been together for over 20 years but it seems like people just don't take marriage as seriously.

Consider all the celebrities that seem to easily marry and divorce, over and over again. I'm not saying that celebrities are representative of most people but that there even is the attitude that marriages can so easily be absolved is demonstrative of the lack of respect for the institution of marriage. I mean look at J-Lo, that girl really needs to slow down before she turns into today's Elizabeth Taylor.

For me having a friend that is going to be a nun, and knowing the great commitment she is making, has made me reevaluate the commitments in my own life and how I plan to fulfill them.

• Can you keep promise?