Being a senior has me wanting to pause time

Bella Lee, Staff writer

This semester is both exciting and bittersweet for me. Mercyhurst has been my home for the past four years, but now in about three and a half months, it will all be coming to an end.

In May, I will officially be graduating and moving on with my life. I am looking forward to all the lasts that this semester will bring me. The last final I will ever take, the last SpringFest I have the chance of attending, the last theatre performance I will partake in, the last time I can hang out with my friends and the last time I will ever be on Mercyhurst’s campus as a student.

I am in awe that I have made it this far in college. At this point four years ago, I was still a senior in high school, having recently celebrated my 18th birthday, and not having even the slightest clue where I would be attending college. Now, I am in my final semester of undergrad and actively looking at grad schools to attend in the fall. I might even attend the same institution that my mom is currently doing her undergrad at!

Besides the firsts and the lasts, I still have a whole lot this semester that I continue to look forward to. There are a lot of club meetings that I plan on attending as many meetings as I can until the very last one.

I am also taking a slate of very exciting and interesting classes with professors I have either had and enjoyed for a very long time, or new professors that I finally have the chance to take a class with. To put it simply, I have loved being a student all this time and it is going to be so weird for me in the fall when I am not taking classes with the professors I have grown to admire so much.

I have a lot of ambitious plans for once I depart Mercyhurst. I want to complete graduate school, receive my doctorate, and eventually go back to Washington D.C., where I am from, and work in the Smithsonian.

Until I can do all of that, I am enjoying every last moment I have of my time here at this absolutely amazing campus. The past four years have flown by and I sometimes wish that I had the ability to slow down time. To spend more time with the friends I have made along the way, to enjoy more of the events I went to or even attend events that I chose not to attend, learn from my mistakes and not meet certain people that did not make a great impact in my life, the list goes on.

I sometimes wish that I could turn back time, but the various events that I have gone through all this time have led me to where I am today. Parting will be such sweet sorrow when May comes around, but I am not done here just yet.

I have truly enjoyed my time here and I am excited to see what this semester will bring for me. Hurst has been home for the past four years, and it will always be home, long after I leave.