As I open a new Word Document, I’m not sure what I’m about to write. All I know is that when I’m writing, it’s just me. It’s just myself and my thoughts. I feel present, and I want this feeling to last forever.
I’m a junior now. I am a junior in college, and I feel like I only just graduated high school. The idea of time continuously passing actually terrifies me. A day passes, and then weeks, then months, then before I can even realize it, I’m going to be the one going to Red’s to see the countdown for graduation.
When I was a freshman in college, I remember feeling lost. Like every day was a daydream and I was just going through the motions of my day-to-day schedule. I didn’t find people that shared the same values as me, or even just cared about people the way that I did.
However, there was one place where I didn’t feel as lost as any other places. When I walked into the dance studios, it felt like nothing else mattered. When it was time for dance, I knew I could leave all my worries at the door and feel totally present in that space.
This was all thanks to the people I surrounded myself with at dance, especially the sophomores at the time. They welcomed me with open arms, and I feel so proud to say that I have learned so much from them and that they have made me not only the dancer, but human being I am today.
Those sophomores are now seniors, and I’m going to have to say goodbye to them in just a few short months. They’ll leave me with all the things that they have taught me, and I will carry on those lessons to other people that need them like I did.
Next thing I know, I’ll be that senior. I’ll be the one saying goodbye hoping that I had left a positive mark on others and knowing that I didn’t take any moment for granted.
Throughout my few years at Sacred Heart thus far, I have achieved and completed things I never thought I would do. I have successfully choreographed my first dance piece my sophomore year, become an assistant editor for the Spectrum, obtained a spot on the executive board of the SHU Dance Program, been given a position for my sorority.
I was an exercise science student my freshmen year and I remember sitting in biology class knowing that wasn’t the right place for me. Then, I found media arts and journalism, and I began to feel passionate about the things I was learning in class.
If you were to tell my freshmen year self that I was going to be an editor for the school newspaper, I wouldn’t have laughed, and I probably wouldn’t be too surprised. I would have felt excited, intrigued and relieved to know that I had found the right place for me.
I hope that in a couple years, once I’ve graduated and feel that my life is coming together, that I read this editorial with a smile on my face. I know I’ll remember this feeling and feel proud of the place that I will be in.
Instead of being terrified, I want to be excited. My life is just getting started. I am going to be so grateful for the lessons I’ve learned at college, the people I’ve met, the relationships I’ve formed.
Yes, time is passing, but we’re not stuck. But I feel that it is time for myself to start to associate the idea of time moving forward with the idea of experiencing new things and growing.
Time is moving way too fast. I’m getting older. We’re growing up. But I’m here, I’m writing. And right now, that’s all that matters.