“Enjoy it all.”
My dad often gave me this simple advice throughout college, but I think it is especially relevant and import to seniors beginning their last semester at MU.
Seniors, congratulations for being so close to finishing your degree and forever having the status of being a Mizzou graduate. Your Mizzou education and the experiences you take from your MU students days will always be for you, and your Mizzou degree will serve you well in helping you meet all your aspirations in life.
Right now, though, you may feel anxious about the unknown or eager to get onto your next chapter in life. I remember this roller coaster of emotions far too well. In January of my senior year, I was concerned about where I would be admitted for graduate school, if I should even go to graduate school, and how fast this last semester with my best friends would go. My dad’s simple advice to “enjoy it all” was the perspective I needed to know that moments like your last semester of college are rare.
Rarely do you get the chance to live among such a large community of people – your professors, staff, peers, and mentors – dedicated to helping you achieve your goals in life. Rarely do you get the chance to share life with many friends who challenge you to be your best self. Rarely do you get to be in classrooms where your primary job every day is to take in new knowledge for the purpose of bettering some corner of the world.
For these reasons, I encourage you to enjoy all that this semester brings. Enjoy all your Mizzou lasts. Spend time with the friends and mentors you love. And embrace the uncertainty of the future. You will quickly find after graduation (if you haven’t already) that the future is always unknown, so just take in what you have now with a full and grateful heart. Congratulations again on getting to this point, and I look forward to you being a member of the Mizzou Alumni Association family soon!
– Rachel Newman BS ’14, M Ed ’16
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