I'M A SENIOR! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

By Ifeanyi Onwumah

When my high school English teacher told me “Your college years fly by fast”, he sure wasn’t kidding! It seems like only yesterday I was a semi-lost freshman walking through the doors of Warde for the first time trying to locate room L209…fast-forward 3 years and I feel like the master of these halls. That’s not all I’m feeling though, you can add overwhelmed, anxious, excited, frustrated, and impatient to the list. I know, a lot mixed emotions in one bag but they are all justified because I’m a freaking senior! In a few more months, it’s off to “the real world” as they say. Am I really ready for that?! Only time really can tell but it wouldn’t hurt to think about what that implies.

It means that hopefully I’m on the later years of my education (I thought about it the other day, I’m only 20 but I’ve been in the education system for 17 years!!! Ouch!) and I’m definitely looking forward to waking up on a Monday morning in the fall and not worrying about being late for a class. On the flip side, it means I’ll be waking up and going to work…full time! It also means the possibility of graduate or professional school (More school…How exciting! NOT!!!) I was really considering skipping post-graduate education but with the uncertainty of things these days, it seems a little more than necessary.

It’s almost as if being a senior came from nowhere and smacked me right across the face. I should have seen this coming right? The last three years were supposed to prepare me for this and I would be lying if I said they haven’t but it still feels surreal. I thought at this time, I would be basking in the glory of completing my education but that celebration is being undermined by the knowledge that though one very important journey is coming to an end, an even more important one is just beginning. The thought that so many of my friends are also graduating and I might never see them again doesn’t make things any easier.

Being a senior isn’t all bad though, at this point I realize that college serves as a medium between being a kid and an adult and I think I’ve come a long way in that regard and as far as mediums go, SXU has served as a really good one. Although I’m anxious, I’m very confident in the skills and life lessons I’ve picked up here and how they’ll carry me for the rest of my life. My time here has taught me to be confident in myself and to always have an optimistic outlook on things. Every now and then it escapes my mind that I’m a senior and then something or someone reminds me and I think “I’M A SENIOR?!!! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?!”

Ifeanyi Onwumah is a senior double-majoring in Philosophy and Computer Studies. He is a commuter student from South Holland, IL. Ifeanyi’s goal is to attend Law School after he graduates from SXU.