It Won't Be Long - A Reflection (of sorts)

It’s the last week of classes for the spring semester.  Finals start on Friday, and I’ll be packed up and heading back to Pennsylvania in just over a week.  Where has time gone?  Am I really about to finish my sophomore year of college? 

Say what?

I can’t believe I’m almost (officially) halfway through my college career.  It seems like just yesterday I was graduating high school—thank God—and moving to Blacksburg for the first time.  Freshman year was definitely a learning year…for everyone.  You can’t go into college expecting anything.  It’s an extremely different world, and it takes time to adjust.  Some people can adapt to change and new environments rather quickly—like myself.  It’s what I get for moving six times in my childhood.  Others may find it more difficult or perhaps even daunting. 

Regardless of how you go about it, freshman year is a time to explore opportunities, try something new, experiment with your interests, and maybe even test your limits.  Take a class just for the sake of taking the class.  I took Music History because I thought it sounded interesting.  Suffer through a horrible class just so you can tell your kids, “Yeah, I took that class in college and it sucked, but I survived!”  For me, that class was a logic class I took in place of calculus for a math credit (the perks of being a Liberal Arts major).  It took me all of my first year, and even into the beginning of my sophomore year to really find my niche and my solid group of friends.  Once I found them, though, I’ve never wanted to be anywhere else doing anything else with anyone else. 

I guess it’s safe to say I love where I am and what I do here.

And now, just about two years later, I’m double-checking my courses for junior year, when they really start getting major-specific, organizing last-minute details for my first internship, and preparing to take over as Editor-in-Chief of a campus publication.  It’s hard to imagine that it won’t be long until I’m double-checking my applications and transcripts for graduate school and setting up my first real-world job.  But really, I can’t wait for that time.  As much as I love Virginia Tech, what I look forward to the most is being on my own in a big city—Atlanta is my goal—and finding work for a big company or corporation down there.  The Peach City has so many options for someone like me: Coca-Cola, Georgia Aquarium, TBS, Fox, Turner Field, The Weather Channel…you name it, Atlanta has it.  Just thinking about the possibilities makes my mind soar.

Sigh…I can’t get ahead of myself.  I have to get my degrees first.  At this rate, though, it won’t be long until I’m doing more than just dreaming.

Until then, savour every minute you spend in college.  It's only my second year, and I can definitely say they have been the best two years of my entire life.  I can't wait to see what the next two bring.