April of your senior year. People don’t really think about it until they’re there. The last month, last leg on your journey. It’s a lot to take in, and a lot all at once.
Senior year is a mix between senioritis, long and hard assignments and a longing to get as much out of the last year as possible. Even in the beginning of the second semester, it doesn’t feel quite like the end yet. There are four months left, and that can be a lifetime.
The realization comes crashing down once April hits, and everything becomes real. Every project becomes one of your last projects. Each test becomes one of your last tests. As small as four weeks sounds, it feels ten times worse the week after and the week after that. Time is closing in, and it feels like a ticking time bomb that, when it goes off, marks the end of the “best years of your life.”
Finding a job becomes a major focus, and there needs to be a balance between the job search, finishing the remaining school work to pass classes and securing the degree. Unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
On top of everything else, it’s spring; the weather creates perfect opportunities to create some last month memories with friends before everyone is no longer living on campus together. Trying to enjoy the last month of school while passing classes, searching for jobs and getting a healthy amount of sleep puts a lot of stress onto your shoulders.
One cannot easily predict how they’ll feel when approaching this part of their college career. It’s very overwhelming to be on the last page of the college chapter in one’s book. Everything in the pages before this built up to this one moment, and it’s hard to guess what might occur once a new chapter begins.
The last month as a college student makes one want to stop time from moving forward. So many great memories were formed and opportunities have risen from your time in college, and it feels like a big chunk of who you have become may be disappearing forever. The daily routines and the essential aspects of one’s life taken for granted will no longer be the same. Friends will be miles away and a direct line to experienced help gets severed after this month.
Taking full advantage of what a university provides is key. Before the first big step into the real world, make sure you get the most out of your time on campus. Whether you want it to happen or not, graduation is only weeks away.
