With graduation approaching, I thought it might be neat to recap on my time here at MSU. I won’t lie, it’s been tough. A lot of ups and downs, and even a few curveballs thrown in there. Overall, there isn’t much I would trade for this experience for. My time here has forced me to grow and it taught me to be strong even when I thought I couldn’t be. I thought about dropping out one too many times, but yet, here I am a few weeks shy of walking at graduation and a thesis shy of getting my master’s degree. Here are 50 lessons I’ve learned from my two years in this program:

1. You can’t have your cake and eat it too
2. Everyone gossips
3. People are competitive
4. Not everyone is going to like you
5. ….and that’s okay
6. Don’t procrastinate
7. Control your alcohol intake
8. Be skeptical of who you trust
9. Anger gets you nowhere
10. Love is greater than hatred
11. Being scared is normal
12. You don’t always have to be an overachiever
13. Heck, you don’t always have to even be “good”
14. Take nothing for granted
15. People like to gloat, let them
16. Life isn’t fair
17. Grad school is horrible on your mental health
18. Your mental health is important
19. Yoga is important for your health
20. The older you get the more effort you have to put into making friends
21. Making friends is hard
22. Time flies
23. Stop winging it
24. ….just kidding, know when to wing it and when to not
25. Possibilities are endless
26. Just when you think you’ve had enough, there’s more
27. All-nighters are sometimes necessary
28. Coffee is a gift from the universe
29. Think before you speak
30. Stop worrying about things you can’t control
31. Let people be themselves (even if you think they suck)
32. Winters in Michigan are horrible
33. Snow isn’t that great
34. Sunshine is important
35. Your physical health is important
36. You shouldn’t eat meat
37. There’s more to life than academics
38. Give more than you take
39. Always say please and thank you
40. Always say “ope” when accidently running into someone
41. Dogs will always be your best friends
42. Plane rides are fun
43. Impulse trips are also fun
44. Laugh daily
45. Writing a paper an hour before it’s due isn’t fun
46. Neither is pretending you know what you’re talking about when you don’t
47. Don’t “phone it in”
48. Love like crazy
49. Laugh at yourself
50. You’ll meet the best people in the worst situations