After a fall semester full of highs and lows and a winter break full of extraordinary opportunities, we’ve finally gotten to the spring semester. 

For my fellow seniors, I know we’re taking it all in now. It’s been a great four years but, of course, it’s not over yet.

Now that I’ve reached my final semester of undergraduate college, it’s hard to imagine how much I’ve grown from freshman year. I remember four years ago starting at Salem Community College in Carneys Point, New Jersey. I was nervous to even take the next step and excited to see where my next academic journey would go. 

I started out by getting my associate degree in business administration. I went through phases of wanting to get an entrepreneurship degree and then a music production degree.

But somehow, I ended up with a public relations degree with minors in journalism and sports communication.

I’m not ready to take on my final semester, but I am looking forward to the future.

I’m ready to live outside of my comfort zone. I want to do things that will help me grow even more, as often as possible. I don’t want to be outside of my comfort zone “all day, every day” but I do want to push myself in ways that I will appreciate later.

A lot of my growth, especially in the past few years, has come from me breaking outside of my comfort zone and trying new things. Because of that, I’ve been happier than ever. It definitely was not an easy or pleasant journey all the time but it was worth it.

Not that I don’t already, but I’m absolutely ready to work hard everyday to hone my skills. My two internships give me plenty of opportunities to continue working hard throughout the semester, but I’m ready to work harder in the classroom as well. 

There’s a famous quote from Albert Pujols, a baseball player, who said, “It’s not how you start [the season], it’s how you finish.” I feel like that applies to college life, especially with my academic journey. 

Besides working hard toward my career and getting a 4.0 this semester, I made it a goal to become the best possible version of myself this year. I definitely want to be mentally and physically healthy, as the pandemic took a toll on me in that aspect.

I worried about if I would have a job right after graduation, if I would be financially stable enough and a billion other thoughts raced through my head. As someone who tends to worry about both the future and the past, I seldom remember to just enjoy the present.

Whether I’m writing this article, finishing my last final or being handed my diploma, I need to enjoy these moments when they happen. Being as it is my last semester, I can’t be too worried about what the future will hold or I’ll regret not enjoying the moments in the present.

It’s going to be a great semester. For my fellow seniors, we are going to make the most of it and enjoy these moments we have with each other. The pandemic threw us curveballs but we pushed through and came out on the other side.

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