The past month or so has gone by so quickly and it's been bittersweet. I will be graduating on May 30th with my Bachelor's and it is going to be a huge change. I have spent the last four years of my life here and it has been something I will take with me for the rest of my life. The University of Delaware has given me such a solid education that I can't even remember how or what I learned before coming here (read: high school). I've learned more about life, myself, and my relationships with others than I could have ever imagined. In light of the fact that I will be leaving this campus in just 9 short days, I just wanted to reminisce on some fond memories that will stay with me forever from the University of Delaware...
Oh the memories from Freshman year...if you are close to me than you probably know the horror stories about my two other roommates from Freshman year. If not, some of the highlights included: almost missing my exam because one of my roommates decided to turn off my alarm the morning of. Trying to sleep through my roommate and 'some guy' having sex underneath of me since I was on the top bunk of the bunk beds. Having to endure "mediators" who tried to help the three of us work through our issues when really it just made the living situation worse. I could go on but this is supposed to be happy memories, so I think I'll stop here.
I should note though that the significance of that hell-ish year was that it taught me to stand up for myself a lot. Those two girls were so incredibly rude and yet I hardly did anything about it (except get a room change). I think about how differently I would handle that situation if it were to happen to me now and I realize that I probably wouldn't have gained as much self-respect if I hadn't gone through it in the first place. Besides, I am quite proud of myself that despite all of that, I still came out with a 3.8GPA the end of that semester!
The Psychology department is another part of UD that I have loved so much. All of my Psyc classes (after getting through prereqs of course) have been absolutely wonderful and have taught me so much about society, other people, and myself. One particular class that really stands out is The Social Self where I learned all about why we interact with others in the ways that we do and how we can change our interactions to better portray what we are trying to say to others. That is the gist of it in a nutshell but I really did enjoy that class and the Psyc department as a whole.
I will dearly miss the friends that I have made here. Before I started college I remember being told that the friendships you make in college are the most solid ones that last forever. I certainly hope that I stay in touch with the friends I've made here because they have gotten me through so much throughout these four years.
You can't put a price on the level of skills I learned while in college, such as reasoning, applying material from other classes to the real world and, sometimes, to other classes as well, and thinking abstractly and in my own way about things. College has helped me to form my own ideas about things and not just soak up every little thing you hear about the world. No. It does you some good to do some research and find out what is really going on.
After all of this, sometimes I wonder how I will ever make it out there in the "real world." I have become a professional student! I am a pro at taking quick notes, studying for exams, soaking up the important material from textbooks and picking out what will likely be on an exam. How can I ever not be a student?!
On the other hand, I am so excited to see what this world can offer me and what I can offer to the world. This is the beginning of a whole new chapter in my life and although I am sad about what I will leave behind, the most overwhelming feeling of all is simply excitement.
