Life is interesting. I don’t really remember a time when college wasn’t at the forefront of all of my goals. My parents both graduated from UGA, so I grew up going to Georgia games in Athens, tailgating with pimento cheese sandwiches and seeing all of the giddy excitement in all of the college students. Even then, as a seven-year-old, it was a palpable excitement that I knew I had to be a part of. College was a topic my parents always loved to talk about, we always enjoyed dreaming together. When I discovered my passion for theatre, we were able to bring our dreams into a narrower, more specific focus. “Which schools have good theatre programs?” “where will you have the most opportunities to get on stage?” “Study abroad programs?” “What about a scholarship opportunity via an audition?” Throughout high school it was a lot of research until finally, my senior year, my decision was made and Furman was the place for me! And then I was in it! Doing college. Going to classes, getting cast in shows, rehearsals, studying abroad! It’s been a whirlwind and (as cliché as it may sound) a total dream come true. But now here I am, a second-semester senior…so close to the finish line, I feel like I can see it. However, instead of sprinting toward those last few strides, I find myself wanting to dig in my heels, or to take the slowest, most leisurely walk.
Maybe I’m the only one who’s felt this way, but I can’t shake the feeling of “well, what now?” for most of my life the end-goal has been my undergrad, and now that that’s coming to a close, I feel myself slipping into this weird, quarter-life, where-is-the-meaning-in-all-of-this crisis. So, in case you’re like me at all, and feeling anything like this, here’s what I’ve found:
1)Life doesn’t end after college ends. It goes on. We carry on.
2)My worth is not measured by a fancy piece of paper I will receive in May.
3)That great, big, adventure-filled anticipation that I felt days before coming to college exists in a lot of other things as well.
4)College has been some of the best times of my life, but that doesn’t mean that the good times have to end.
5)Embrace the valleys with the peaks.
Ok so maybe it all sounds a bit like mumbo-jumbo or like I’m speaking in inspirational bumper-stickers. Or maybe someone out there needed to read that and feel encouraged, or at least heartened because hey, if you’re freaking out at all, you’re not alone. Trust me. #FurmanfortheWynne
