Growing Up

I had a meeting with my advisor at school today. We went through the requirements sheet, checked and double checked everything, and I only need three more classes to graduate. I can't believe how fast it's gone! Everyone told me my undergrad years would fly by, but I had no idea how right they were! The last three years have absolutely flown. It is so surreal to think that by the end of this year, I'll have my college degree.

I've learned so much in the last three years here at USU, things like:

• how beneficial it is to study hard,
• arrive at basketball games at least an hour in advance if you want good seats,
• white noise apps on your smartphone help you sleep through anything,
• work hard for the right people,
• step outside your comfort zone to see how far you can push it,
• follow through on my hair-brained ideas because most times they turn out to be some of my best ideas,
• a person cannot live on cereal alone,
• doing the right thing pays back in huge dividends even if it's not the situation in which you do the right thing,
• if it seems to good to be true, it probably is,
• getting enough sleep is critical, but don't be afraid to stay up and make brownies at 3:00 in the morning occasionally,
• sincerity and kindness will get you further than the highest test scores and the most impressive credentials,
• and the importance and power of prioritizing.

While that last one is definitely still a work in progress, it's coming. I live and die by my day planner. My to-do lists are blocks long. I know that I need to actually schedule in the people in my life that are important to me. Be it emails, text messages, phone calls, occasional game nights, or quick drives over the Idaho border, I usually have a little sticky note or reminder in my planner reminding me to take care of the relationships in my life. It probably sounds borderline absurd, and it certainly far from foolproof, but I've learned how important relationships are. In the end, that's what I'm going to remember about college. I don't care two hoots about the atomic weight of plutonium, I can't for the life of me remember how to interpret a DuPont Analysis, and I have repressed most memories of International Economics, but I will always remember movie nights Jared's, game nights at Erin's with the finance crew, doing glitter toes with my current roommates, a midnight slip and slide down Old Main Hill last fall with that generation of roommates, driving to Idaho with Shana just to get away during a freak-out moment, swapping hilarious anecdotes with Mckell and Valerie at the Sigma Chi dance marathon, basketball games with Kaitlyn, dinners with Kacee, inside jokes with Becky and Rachel that no one else will ever fully appreciate, ridiculously crowded Institute dance with Jason, watching "Twilight" at midnight with Maddie and Scott, watching "New Moon" with Kristin and Stacey just before Thanksgiving break, busting with pride when my football players that I have tutored finally grasp a tough concept, the list goes on and on forever. These are the reasons people say college years are the best. The parties are great, I feel productive and accomplished when I learn something, but it's the people I've met and the bonds I've formed that have made all the difference in the world. Here's to one more semester.