it has all been said and done.

So that's it. I'm already back home in Virginia with my B.A. degree in hand from Marist College. College is done. Done? But how can that be? 4 years gone by just like that? People have asked me if it was an emotional day, but it wasn't. Why? It just all felt so surreal and so rushed. You anticipate that moment of your name being called. You walk across that stage butterflies in your stomach, greet President Murray, take your diploma and walk off and that's it. It's so very surreal. It was a proud moment, especially since my Dad got to come up on stage and hand my diploma to me with the help of President Murray since he is also an alum of Marist, and I know that it was a proud moment for him as well. I was so very proud of all my wonderful friends as well, that all of our hard work has finally paid off.  They are all such wonderful people and I appreciate their friendship and know that my life would be so different and empty without their presence. I thank you Marist, for the best 4 years of my life so far. But now, that I'm back home I need to continue on this journey to figure out what exactly I want to do with my life and hopefully find a full-time job in the DC area in the mean time, so, here we go!

                                           

Dear Freshman Amanda...

10 days. That is all that is left of my college career. That. Is. It. How did this happen? Better yet, why does this have to happen? My friends and I find ourselves having waves of nostalgia, sheer panic and sadness all at once; needless to say it can be overwhelming at times. Today we took it upon ourselves to do a "walking tour" of the campus and go back to all of our old rooms from freshman year to where we live now. I found myself thinking how much I have changed since I arrived here 4 years ago as an 18-year-old and how I will leave here as an adult (I still don't know how I feel about that word yet...).

But for everyone we talked to in our old dorm rooms or houses we lived in, we stressed to no end, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, ENJOY YOUR TIME NOW. I mean really, I know everyone told me that at my high school graduation party, "College goes by so fast, be sure to enjoy every minute of it!" I would wave them off and say "yeah, yeah" but man, they were not kidding. It is so odd to me too that high school is 4 years but that seemed so long to me compared to how quickly my 4 years of college raced by. But as my friends and I soaked in our gorgeous campus, I began to think to myself things I wish I could have told myself as a freshman, so here it goes:

1) IT WILL ALL BE OK. Above it all everything will really be okay, no matter how stressed you seem at the time, no matter how much work, tests, papers, interning to get up for, job searching to do, it will all be ok, I promise, which leads me to my next point...

2) Don't sweat the small stuff. Although you will learn this mainly from going abroad your junior year, please don't sweat the little things. Although you do not easily freak out over little things like some people can, please feel free to take a chill pill every now and then on things that aren't really going to matter the next day.

3) Live it. Plain and simple, go out there and live your life! This is college, live it up, goof off with your friends instead of studying, you will never get these moments back.

4) Stand up for yourself and speak up more. Never let anyone belittle you, no matter how high-ranking of a person they might be or what situation it may be, you never deserve anyone putting you down. Speak up, and let your ideas be known!

5) Soak this up and live in the moment. Look at your surroundings, look at the people around you, your friends, teachers, classmates, every last little thing. Every time you come back to Marist it will never be the same as how you felt when you went here. It will all be different, so soak up this undergrad life now.

I could go on, but I will end it here for now, what would you tell your freshman self?