By Jillian Hough
One thousand, four hundred, and sixty days. Thirty-five thousand hours of house meetings, studying in the Swarm, playing intramurals, attending games and concerts, complaining about professors, pulling all-nighters
“These are the best four years of your life!”
A phrase often heard from the mouths of Gen X and Baby Boomers. But what makes this experience the best in our lives? And how are we to look forward to the future if we peaked here?
With commencement a week away, uncertainty comes naturally. Freshmen, considering their fall semester and nervous to begin upper-level classes. Sophomores, preparing for roles in leadership and realizing that half of their college career has passed. Juniors, ensuring they’ll have the credits to graduate, wondering what their last summer in college will be like. Seniors, ready to walk across the stage with the rest of their lives on the other side.
We progress to a new phase but struggle to leave the old and embrace the new. The “what-if”s buzz around in our heads, a bothersome fly that clouds our thoughts.
With this, we forget about all we have accomplished. We have all taken our education further. We have all actively participated in the college experience. We have all learned and grown as human beings. Many of us have taken on integral roles in athletics and the arts, achieved academic honors, and lived independently for the first time. One-fourth of us will leave Lamoni this spring with a Bachelor’s degree.
Yet, with all that we have accomplished, we still have our whole lives ahead of us. We can start a career or a family. We can go further with our education. We can move across the country. We can pursue happiness.
To quote the Life magazine motto, “To see the world, things dangerous to come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other, and to feel. That is the purpose of life.”
Sincerely,
Jillian Hough
Editor of The Tower
Picture taken by Jillian Hough