Graduation is only a week away, but I feel like I have been displaced from space and time, like that “Rick and Morty” episode where Morty and Summer destabilize the timeline with their uncertainty, causing the family garage to end up in a black void surrounded by Schrodinger’s cats. I feel like that is an accurate representation of my state of mind right now: uncertain, distant and weird.
I admit, I most likely feel this way because as I am sitting here writing this, I’m also thinking about the multitude of essays and exams I still have to complete before the “Big Day” arrives. However, I keep reminding myself that these are the last essays, the last research reviews and the last exams I will ever write for Mills College, and there’s something very bittersweet about that thought.
I have spent the past four years on this campus, making memories (both good and bad), developing lifelong friendships and working toward an academic goal that I’ve dreamed about accomplishing since I was in grade school. And soon, that dream will become tangible and real and complete.
Although I still don’t know what type of job I’ll be getting after graduation, I feel ready to conquer anything that is thrown my way, and I can safely say that Mills is the reason for my confidence. I have been preparing for this day since the moment I stepped onto this beautiful campus, and I have had wonderful mentors, friends and family members who have guided me along the way.
I may not know what my life will hold in the years to come, but to quote the book I wrote my senior thesis on, “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski: “Maturity, one discovers, has everything to do with the acceptance of ‘not knowing.’” I am fine with stumbling into the “Real World” and making mistakes along the way, because I know that I have survived worse and that I can survive these next steps, too.
So as I leave Mills, and the glorious Campanil family that I have come to love and appreciate so much, I would just like to take a moment to thank those who have been by my side since the very beginning, my parents and my sister, and all of the awesome people who have found their way into my life these last four years and made such a strong impact on who I am today. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for all of you, so thank you. Thank you for everything.
Goodbye Mills, goodbye Campanil, goodbye college life.
Hello, Real World. I’m coming for you.
