A trifling two weeks are left until graduation. “Trifling,” as I’ve used it here, means “not worth considering,” but, interestingly, as a noun it means “to pass or spend (time) idly or frivolously.” What a beautiful coincidence! Trifling sounds so much sweeter than simple procrastination.Seriously, only two weeks are left. For the first time, I can actually see the door closing on my college career, and I’m finding myself thinking in long strings of clichs.
It seems like just yesterday that I got here!
Time has really flown!
As an English major who has spent the past four years trying to avoid clichs, I especially hate to admit these clichs, but sometimes they just fit.
I feel that graduating from college will be very similar to graduating from high school in that my high school graduation didn’t sink in until I was already well into the next phase of life. It hit me a few weeks into fall semester of my freshman year – I was a high school graduate. I think it won’t hit me until the fall, when I don’t find myself on Highway 82 with my furniture and new school supplies, that I’m really a college graduate.
It’s been a good four years. I’ve done more than my share of complaining about Starkville since I’ve been here, but honestly, it’s been a good four years.
There’s nothing like playing Hide and Seek or running through the sprinklers on campus in the middle of the night. There’s nothing like a big spicy plate of barbecue from Sonny’s. There’s nothing like surprise birthday parties at midnight at the Starkville Caf. There’s nothing like a bright spring afternoon of exploring at the Noxubee Refuge. There’s nothing like an MSU football game, with the sounds of cowbells and drunken ravings filling the air. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing, but there’s certainly nothing like it.
It’s been a good four years.
I wish there had been someone to tell me some things when I started out as a freshman. When I was agonizing over what major to choose, I chose the ones that made me think of exotic careers. For instance, I majored in biology for a while because I liked the sound of being an animal behavior specialist. However, I didn’t consider that science is not my strong point.
All I needed was someone to tell me to do what I love. It took three semesters for me to settle into English, and once I did, I realized how much sense it made. It may not be so exotic, but I love it. If you don’t know what you want to study, figure out what you’re passionate about, and pursue it.
I wish someone had told me that it’s OK to miss a day of class once in a while. I remember the first class I accidentally missed in my freshman year. I slept too late. My heart pounded as I rocketed to my computer to send my professor a long-winded, apologetic e-mail. When the response was something along the lines of “Um, thanks for letting me know?” I was a little confused. I’ve learned that professors don’t really care why you miss class, and if you miss a class here or there, you won’t fail. When the weather is particularly beautiful, it’s even okay to take a personal day. We students have to maintain our sanity somehow, right?
What I really learned, above all things, is how important my professors would be to my college years. I don’t just mean important in the sense that the professor is the vehicle by which information is conveyed from the book to the student. I hope that all of you, at some point, have at least one professor who changes the way you see the world, whether it’s a teal-haired philosophy professor who riles you up to make you realize the importance of being open minded and tolerant or an English professor whose poetry recitation makes you see a kind of beauty in nature you never realized was there. My professors are what have shaped my college career and by doing so, shaped my future.
If you’re just starting here at Mississippi State, enjoy it, because – here’s another clich – it will be over before you know it. If you’re a graduating senior like me, congratulations and best of luck in all your future endeavors. It’s time to celebrate. We made it.