Today I received my last college course grade, making me a Master of Information Systems Management. This ending began last May when I got my Bachelor’s degree, so I’ve had an entire semester to start decompressing, but now it’s official. I am finished with college. Weird.
Usually when I try to write about these things I’m never happy with the result. But I feel this occasion is important enough that I should try to put down a few sentences anyway.
It doesn’t feel on the surface like it’s been four years, but when I think about what I was like as recent high school graduate and college freshman it’s clear that four years is a long time. I can’t even begin to imagine what my life would be like if I hadn’t gone to Carnegie Mellon. Perhaps it would have been similar elsewhere, but my experience at Carnegie Mellon was transformative. I took courses, worked on and managed team projects, participated in activities, led an organization for two years, and graduated (twice). All of these things had an effect. It was a paradigm shift.
In a way, my most prominent emotion right now is melancholy. It’s not a sudden or sharp emotion; it’s more just a persistent feeling of disappointment that this phase of my life is over. I can think of few (if any) periods in my life where the rate of growth in my knowledge, experience, maturity, and confidence will ever be higher again. College was transformative, and after I enter the “working world” I don’t think there will ever be another time like it again in my life. I’ll probably never meet, live with, or interact with so many people or people so diverse; never have access to so many resources; never have such varied, interesting, and cool experiences; and probably never work as hard or sleep as little as I did these past four years and four months. It seems like the most incredible, dynamic part of my life is coming to a close. I’m mourning that loss.
I don’t think I’ll miss college itself. I’ll probably reminisce fondly at times, but as far as the sharp pain of separation, that’s been dulled by having several months after my May graduation to get used to the idea.
As for the future, time will tell. I have a job but it doesn’t start for 6 months. I’ve never dealt particularly well with extended downtime, so it should be interesting to see what I get into.
Here’s to new beginnings. ↗
