Can you believe I am finally down to 3 weeks until graduation? It feels like yesterday I was climbing over the bike racks with my dad to get a peek into the window of my first dorm room and imagining how adventerous and fulfilling it was going to be to have my own little space in the world, away from parents and friends and the life I had known in Kingwood. Those memories have become precious ones to me. I had no idea where the next 5 years would take me, and had I known, I would have probably been shocked and awed.
Now I am finding myself once again going through this process. I am again a wide eyed newbie looking into the windows of life after college - the prospect of renting my own apartment in the city, paying all my own bills, upgrading my car eventually to a safer and more spacious model, and most importantly - working in the field God has led me into and interacting daily with executives and professionals far my senior. I want to remember all the great times at A&M but I also want to embrace this new chapter with as much vigor and thrill as I took on the last. If as many landmark events and moments of growth are destined to characterize my new life as I've witnessed in my last, then I'm so very happy to dive headfirst into this new time.
But in wrapping up my time in Aggieland (I don't do change so well - so I'm trying hard to embrace this experience head on!) my goals are as follows:
- Choose not to regret any experience gone through or foregone during my 5 years at Texas A&M. I lived the experience God designed for me to walk. All good and painful moments had a vital role in shaping the woman I have become.
- Reflect on and be thankful for all the relationships that impacted my way of thinking and challenged my paradigms. College is as much about broadening your worldview and becoming a moving force in society as it is gaining the head knowledge to allow success in your eventual job.
- Take the time necessary to go to the people who made a difference in my time here and thank them for the impact they left on my life. As cheesy as it may sound, this will really help me as much as them. People deserve to be told when they have been a positive influence - it motivates them to continue and reassures them that they were right to make the personal investments they did in people. For me, it will constructively help me tie that big maroon bow on the "box" I think of my time here as. It's closure, and I personally think it's healthy.
Needless to say - the numbers of people who influenced me are endless, so if I don't get to you, know that your impact is deeply loved and appreciated! What a blessing to have spent time at a university like Texas A&M. I wish every young adult could have the opportunity I have had. This school is a family. This school is my family.
“From the outside looking in you don’t understand it, from the inside looking out you can’t explain it.”
It's crazy, but it's just so darn true. But if you want me to TRY to explain it, don't worry - I will go to great lengths (and use hand motions if necessary) to get the point across.
In short - THANK YOU.
Proudest member of the Fightin Texas Aggie class of 2006,
Cheryl
