Well, we made it
JACQUELINE BROWDER
Happliy Ever After
With graduation upon us, the Class of 2003 has just about crossed that proverbial threshold. Our senior year has come to an end and we realize that on a seemingly ordinary Sunday in South Bend, our lives will change forever. We will graduate from the University we have learned to call home become a part of its alumni.
And what a ride we've taken to get there.
Senior year has traditionally been referred to as the last hurrah, a time to celebrate with good friends, cheap drinks and a fistful of "lasts." We begin think about the last time we'll get up at 6 a.m. to tailgate. The last time we'll pull an all-nighter to get that paper written. The last spring break. The last time we'll all be together.
With all of these lasts, we begin to look at Notre Dame with nostalgia before we've even left it. It's as if we've found a perfect world and we're afraid to leave it. We're comfortable in our surroundings. Nothing is new, and yet, we're encouraged by it. We've found our place and we understand our role in it. Suddenly, the "last" time becomes the "best" time. Life at 22 is our finest hour.
However, maybe it's time to think about "firsts." Our first real job. Our first time doing our own taxes. Our first step toward a professional degree. Marriage. We begin to make these very real decisions that will affect our lives in the same way that our decisions during college affected us and maybe more.
During the past four years, we've made a lot of decisions. We've changed our majors, sometimes more than once. We've taken internships and waded through med school applications. We've made a lot of friends, lost a few along the way and even fallen in and out of love. We've also learned a lot about ourselves, who we are and what we are going to be. And now, we're there again.
At the beginning of the year, it all seemed overwhelming. We wrote essay after essay for graduate school applications, sat through seemingly endless interviews and dealt with rowdy freshmen when we were on duty. But, we made it. We were accepted into graduate schools, got those jobs and came to love our freshmen. We learned something new every day, whether we paid attention or not.
We're more than ready for that next great adventure. College has always been considered a time to grow and mature, but there is a reason why it spans a short four years. And it's not because Notre Dame doesn't want any more of our money (it's quite the contrary, as we recently found out via the Annual Giving Fund).
Rather, it's because after four years, we've been prepared for something more and something beyond our college lives. We're ready, both academically and socially and it's time to move on, remembering the lasts but focusing on the firsts. After all, commencement isn't defined as an ending. Quite the opposite. It signifies a beginning.
We've accomplished a great deal during our time at Notre Dame, but now it is time to think ahead and to look forward. We have already chosen new places to live, places to work and a new life for ourselves, just as we did during our time as undergraduates. Some of us will begin a great adventure in a new city, some will take on the challenges of graduate school and some of us will start a life together.
Yes, our memories are full of lasts. College, as we've been told for years, goes by quickly. This may be our last year for the parties, the dances and the tailgating, but we have so much before us. And we can congratulate ourselves because, looking back, we got through it. We're going to graduate. We made it.
It's been said that the quality of a university is measured more by the kind of student it turns out than the kind it takes in. Notre Dame prides itself on taking only the best. However, the University should hold in even higher regard the remarkable people it graduates each year.
We have the next few days to be college students, our last moments under the Dome as undergraduates. However, there are many firsts out there waiting for us. We're certainly prepared for them.
With a bit of luck, when we receive our diplomas this weekend, we'll be ready for them.
Jacqueline Browder is a senior American Studies and Journalism major. She'll be beginning her own adventures in New York this June.
The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Viewpoint Stories for Friday, July 11, 2003
