College Adventures Coming to a Close

It's a bitter sweet feeling currently resonating amongst Penn State Seniors.  There's three weeks left to go, as jobs are aligning, life altering decisions commence, and everyone faces the same pivotal thought.  What is life like post-Happy Valley? I see it in the eyes of so many seniors, fear of what life beholds after our surreal four years at Penn State is complete.  No more college bars with two-dollar specials or magical blue cards that once swiped purchases whatever your heart desires (referring to Lion Cash, naturally).  It's time to enter a world of working forty-hour weeks and taking responsibility of life's everyday expenses.  It truly is sad to be faced with the realities of certain challenges that lie ahead, but I couldn't feel more ready to thrive upon what life has yet to offer.  Today as I was running at practice, I was having a great conversation with a freshman girl about all the wonderful things she still wants to do with her last three years at Penn State.  It was at this moment for one of the first times, I thought I could truly look back upon my college experience and realize it had exceeded whatever I had originally intended it to.  I got to be a member of the best student section in the country and cheer on Penn State at the Rose bowl in Pasadena, California. 

I can look back and say I had the chance to run with one of the top and largest student-run running clubs in the country.  If I had not attended Penn State, I would never have had the networking capabilities laid before me, or the opportunity to have half the experiences I've had.  I never would have thought four years ago, that I would ever find myself interning in Soho, New York on Broadway Street or seeing my writing published for the eyes of others to read.  Most importantly, I would have never dreamed that my college experience would teach me the most integral lesson I had yet to learn in my life. That lesson is simple and may sound trite, but it's true.  Throughout every hurdle life may throw at you, there is one element about oneself that another can never take from you... and that is your own happiness.  College experiences have educated me on how sometimes the most genuine of people can hurt you the most. Or how the one thing you fight and work the hardest for simply isn't worth the fight. Truly genuine happiness is about the importance of how instilling happiness in others can transpire into your own life. This past Valentines Day, I didn't have a Valentine "per say", but I distributed valentines to those I felt were kind people to me.  Often times people fail to realize that messages through written words is a truly unique and personalized way to show another you care.
Lessons such as this may sound corny, but had I attended another college I don't feel I would have ever gotten half of the experience I got as a Penn Stater.  The time has come for me to accept that my time in the Happiest of Valleys is dwindling to a close. I will leave Penn State with experiences and memories that are truly immeasurable.  I just hope that future Penn Staters to come will have half the wonderful experiences I can leave saying I had.