I am done with the hardest year of my life. When they say junior year is the worst, they weren't lying. I spent hours crying at the library, in my bed, and anywhere else I could shed a few tears.

And now it's done.

On May 17, I will begin my senior year, I opted to take summer classes (nice one, Lex) and there is no stopping it now. I will complete my internship requirement by August, and then it's smooth sailing until May. There are 26 credits that stand between me and that diploma. I am as scared as I am ready, so I figured I would say hello to my final year.

Dear Senior Year,

Hey there! Never thought I would see the day, but here we are. You look nice. Not as scary as I anticipated, but you are a little shorter than I expected. I figured I would write to you and let you know how I'm feeling about this relationship we're about to start. Here's some things I want to do while you're here:

I want to do something crazy. You know what I mean. This is my last year of "freedom", my last year in this town, with my friends, with my coworkers. This is it. I want everyday to be a day that I enjoy. Holy smokes, I only have 365 more days here. Will I stay up all night watching movies with my roommate? Probably. Will I go out on a Wednesday? Sure. How about not study for a test? Sure, why not. What do I have to lose?

I want to succeed. I know that's what we're all here to do. I want to prove to myself that I can do everything I have set out to do. Some days that might mean eating an entire tub of ice cream. Other days that might mean finishing a project in one day that I had 2 months to do. I don't know if I'll have a job by graduation, and I don't know if I'll have any idea what I'm doing come May 2017. But right here, right now, I am making that commitment to succeed.

I want to have fun. This is going to be the last year I'm here in this place with these people. I want to have fun and enjoy myself while I'm young. What does that mean? Tubing on the river, day drinking, eating all of the noodles in my house, spending my last $5 on Taco Bell, literally ANYTHING. Once I graduate I will have obligations. I have to go to work, I have to pay bills. Right here, right now, I am still a child. I just want to have fun.

I want you to give me all you've got. I mean it, I want it all. I'm ready for anything. Everyone always says how this time is going to fly by and I never believed them, but I swear I just moved into my dorm freshman year; now I'm a senior? Holy eff. Give it all to me, I'm ready. Need me to write a 50 page paper over night? Cool. Need me to go out when I should be studying? Great. You're gonna give me a mental breakdown at the library at 2 in the morning? You know it. I know this is going to be the best year of my life and I'm ready to experience it and everything that comes with it.

So senior year, I'm really not ready for you, but you're definitely not ready for me. Let's get this going. I'm so ready. In 365 (give or take) days I will be walking across the stage and receiving a piece of paper that I worked so hard for. I'm ready.

Let's go.

Alexa