Time to say goodbye… 4, 5, or 6 years wiser

In the words of Loren Eiseley, “I am older now … and have seen most of what there is to… In the words of Loren Eiseley, “I am older now … and have seen most of what there is to see and am not very much impressed any more, I suppose, by anything” … at the University, that is.

As I whined to a close friend recently about how I felt that I had outgrown university life sometime during my final weeks and months as a student, he smiled and reassured me that this was a positive sign.

He reminded me that it’s normal to enter each phase of life with enthusiasm and to fill oneself up with everything it has to offer, but that it’s equally as common to recognize the fact that every chapter comes to an end.

It is with wisdom that we should recognize this point, be thankful for the lessons we learned along the way, hold our heads high and, with courage, move on.

As I prepare to do just that, I would like to take a moment and reflect upon the past several years — the college years — a truly amazing stage of life.

I believe that this stage — between ages 18 and 24 — when many people attend college, is a unique, profound and perhaps unmatched time in our lives.

During these special years, for all practical purposes, most of us leave our childhoods behind and somehow blossom into sensible young adults. We freely forgo our parents’ protection and warmth, in search of an exceptional treasure: ourselves.

In discovering who we are, we remember the insight bestowed upon us by our mentors, while also establishing a value system all our own. This enables us, for the first time, to confidently step behind the wheel of our own car.

That is, we must no longer rely solely on the leadership of others to guide us. In its place, we accept the task of navigating life’s path with our own devices and acknowledge the responsibility that’s involved in doing so.

Later, in our jobs and perhaps through the establishment of a family, we assume the respectable duty of passing our wisdom along to others, so that our children can one day do the same.

As with age in general, this amazing transformation is nearly impossible to see while it’s actually happening.

Instead, it’s only some years later (perhaps four or five or six), when we reflect back on our early days as a college student, that we realize the incredible impact these years had on our lives.

I once heard somebody say that our personalities are hard-wired by the time we reach the age of 25. After living a quarter of a century, our character, beliefs and values are firmly established and will remain as such for the rest of our lives, going relatively unchanged.

If that is true, then think about the importance and influence that our college years have in determining our person — our moral codes, our communication styles and our ability to cope with the hardships and challenges that inevitably await us in the future.

It is with astonishment that I look back on my own school days and consider how the experience influenced my life. I am most definitely not the same naive girl today who, some years ago, stood outside of her freshman dormitory and waved her parents a sad goodbye.

College can be incredible at times and absolutely hellacious at others. It’s a bittersweet mix of new loves and old flames, tests given both inside the classroom and out, hours of studying and oftentimes not enough sleep, an experience that checks our endurance and will, an event that, should we make it through, provides one of life’s most amazing natural highs in the end.

To the freshmen, or those who have only recently begun their journey: Enjoy! It will be quite a ride, but you will be thankful when all is said and done that you decided to celebrate the good times and tolerate the bad in an effort to take yourself to a higher level.

To those students right in the thick of their college careers: Continue to enjoy and keep plugging away. As the “freshman freedom syndrome” wears thin and you absorb the challenges that college presents, may you have the focus and strength to carry on and make it through.

To those, like me, who are about to earn their degrees: Congratulations! Let’s all give ourselves a pat on the back for scaling the obstacles that occasionally blocked our way in reaching this most special milestone.

To all of the alumni out there: I’m about to join you very soon. I step into this new stage as I’m sure all of you did, with determination and the hope that the past several years have adequately prepared me to make a positive contribution to society. I think that they have.

So now, it is with a beam of happiness and a touch of sorrow, too, that I say the words from Andrea Bocelli’s and Sarah Brightman’s moving version of the piece “Con Te Partiro” … “It’s time to say goodbye.” And time to say hello to the adventures that tomorrow will bring.