So here we are. Sometime between four and however many years it took, we’re leaving college.
Where to from here? The answer to that question is as varied as the students who make up this year’s graduating class. Many of us know (or claim to know) exactly the next step to take, whether that step is an internship, a full-time job, or even a backpacking trip through Europe. Others, like me, will tell you we have no idea. The big thing about college is learning about yourself, and many of us will leave our majors with some vague idea of the job we’d like to get or business we’d like to start, but nothing more.
To everyone who touched our lives, we say thank you. To parents who stood by us no matter what. To teachers who tried to instill in us a passion for learning. To administrators who wanted to make our college experiences as amazing as possible. To advisors who helped us decide what path to take. To friends who were there for pizza parties, study sessions, and everything in between. And to all those others we depend on. Without you—without each other there would be no purpose to being here, no way to advance. Life, like society, is exactly what we make of it. Thanks to all the loving, kind people I’ve met during my time in Pleasantville, my concerns about both life AND society are much smaller. If even half the people I encounter after I leave here are anything like my Pleasantville cohorts, I know I’ll have nothing to worry about.
It’s certainly a huge milestone. I’m sure most of us will remember this day if not the night after clearly for the rest of our lives.
Sincerely, and from the bottom of my heart, thank you all.