With finals week coming to a close at the University of Louisville, I know we are all relieved to put this semester behind us with our grades safely finalized. But for this Cardinal, the semester isn’t just bringing the end of a school year, it brings the end of an era in my life. This semester will be my last as a student at the University of Louisville before I transfer to Western Kentucky University. In honor of the completion of my time at Louisville, I’d like to share some of the many things I had to figure out as a college freshman.

One of the earliest lessons I learned once I arrived on campus was the different classifications of students. To the university and the advising office, your status as a student comes from the hours on your transcript, but that couldn’t be more untrue amongst peers. On paper, I was a sophomore by the end of my first semester in college; however, I never saw myself as more than a freshman because of my lack of experience on campus. There are a few essential rites of passage a college student must go through before they can climb to the next level of student classification.

Making weekly plans with friends is key to surviving college. Netflix and Lunch may be every student’s best friend, but you can only watch so many episodes of The Office alone before you go completely insane. My friends and I always made it a point to go eat at McAlister's every Tuesday and Thursday for lunch this semester. With our biweekly vent sessions and jokes shared over the tall tables in the back, this time with my friends made a slow Tuesday go by faster and the end of the week even better. Well established friendships make college enjoyable and get a student one step closer to being able to be considered a sophomore, but you can have lunch dates anywhere. To truly be considered a sophomore, emmerison on campus is important.

At freshman orientation, University of Louisville students learn fight songs and common cheers used at games. They try to explain what it means to be a Cardinal, but the experience of every Cardinal looks very different. Before a freshman can become a sophomore, they have to figure out what it means to be a Cardinal in their own way. Being a Cardinal to me meant being involved in the Baptist Campus Ministry and the Residence Hall Association. While we all have different beliefs and interest, there is an outlet of expression for every student. My time at Louisville may have been filled by hanging with Jesus on Tuesday nights and planning student events with RHA, but that is what made my experience unique and that’s is what made me a Cardinal.

Something I would recommend to all students is to go to some kind of sporting event. Personally, I would rather be anywhere else. The noise and my lack of knowledge of the game set aside, I love watching Cardinals in action. I grew up a Louisville fan and would watch the games with my cousins as a kid. I had seen countless games before, but I realized something when I was sitting in the stands of a Louisville soccer game my first semester. Becoming a student at the University of Louisville made me think of how crazy it was that I went to school with every player on the field. It makes you feel apart of something bigger than yourself.

As students at the University of Louisville, each one of us add to the legacy of the Cardinals. By going to class and getting involved we change the face of the university because of our interactions with it. No matter what major or the number of hours on a transcript, students become sophomores when they get to know the campus and start to develop their own Cardinal experience. I’m proud to say that I am sophomore at the University of Louisville because of the people and experience I have come to know over the past year. Next year I’ll have to start all over again at Western Kentucky University, but I feel confident that it won’t be long until I call myself a sophomore there with my own Hilltopper experience.