A student’s perspective: My last column

It took four years of determination, mental endurance, and procrastination to make it all the way through Virginia Tech, and in a matter of weeks it’ll all be over. On May 11, I’ll have the honor of participating in Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium commencement ceremony, on May 12 I’ll receive my diplomas, and I’m terrified to think of what May 13 will mean. Graduating seniors have been at this school for the last four or five years, but we’ve all been in school since we were five years old. So come May 13, with the exception of those attending graduate or professional schools, for many of us this will be the first time that we’ve ever really been without school. As much as we’ve all undoubtedly complained about school from time to time, or more likely everyday, it’s hard to imagine that such a defining chapter of our lives is simply going to end.

For the first time in our lives we’ll be trading textbooks for tax forms, dining dollars for actual dollars, and 8 a.m. classes once every few semesters for 8 a.m. work mornings every day. The scariest part is that our transition from the familiar to the unknown after college represents our inability to stop time from moving in any direction but forward. For four years I’ve met people that I can unquestionably call my very best friends, and I’ve lived through remarkable moments that I’ll never experience for the first time again. So it’s nothing short of painful to think that I’m going to be forced to leave things behind because I have no choice but to continue living life after graduation. Quite honestly, I just don’t want to say goodbye.

Even in the face of inevitable disheartenment however, the entire process of moving on seems eerily natural. Every sad thought I have about graduation is immediately met with an exciting one, and while that tic-for-tac thought process is a little mind-boggling at times, it has certainly helped me put things in perspective. We have no say in whether or not we move on because either way, on May 13 we’re all out of here -- mostly because our leases end. But of course we do all have a say in how we move forward. After graduation thousands of Hokies are moving into the workforce, travelling, headed to graduate school, or taking the time to learn more about themselves. Each of these options is equipped to help us all find what we want for ourselves in the next section of life, and now for the first time what we want is completely up to us. School has been a tremendous tool in helping us get to this point, but now, in the best way possible, we have the ability to choose what we want autonomous of everything except our own goals.

After nine seasons of hosting American Idol, Simon Cowell unexpectedly decided to leave the show only saying “sometimes you just have to know when to leave the party.” And after more than ten years of carrying that quote in the back of my head for reasons I still don’t understand, there’s finally an excuse to use it. Moving on after experiencing four unbelievable years at Virginia Tech is going to be the hardest thing I’ve had to do in my life thus far, but it’s a step in my life that I knew I would have to take since I got here my freshmen year. As I sit here watching the weeks turn to days until May 11, I take comfort in the fact that I’m going to continue living my life in the way I best see fit. So even if I have to leave Lane Stadium kicking and screaming, some part of me will know that it was just time to leave the party.