This past Wednesday, August 31st, I began my senior year at Centenary. It's hard to believe that only 3 years ago I was on my way to my first college class. I suppose every college student experiences that sense of nostalgia at one point or another. But it's even harder to believe that I've just completed my very last first day of school. I look back on my six-year-old self, armed with crayons and my Snoopy lunchbox for my very first school day in the history of my education. Mom and Dad made me a big sign announcing this new milestone, and I remember posing for pictures in the driveway. Mom had insisted that I have my hair curled, which is normally as straight as a piece of uncooked spaghetti. I'll never forget how much she wanted me to feel pretty and special, how Dad smiled with pride when I emerged from the house with my backpack and lunchbox, and how my parents' love supported me that day as I made my way down the path of knowledge. Their faces beamed as I walked down the hall to my classroom, and even at the age of six, I was able to see the little heartache that was the result of watching me go out on my own.

Now, I'm in the home stretch. Some of you may ask, "Well, what about graduate school? That's a continuation of your education, isn't it?" True, except graduate work is more or less a matter of choice. It depends on how far you want to go with your degree. I would assume most of us are raised to get an elementary education, go to high school, and finally to go to college. College is optional, right? Yes, it's optional, and there are plenty of people who are successful without a college education. However, our families want the best for us, and a degree can provide us with new opportunities that would not normally be available. Nobody wants to work in retail for the rest of their days, although you do it if you have to make ends meet.

The motivation for going to college is so much more than trying to stay away from a job at Burger King. It is the pursuit of knowledge, of fields and topics that interest you so that you can expand as a person. College offers the freedom to explore and then to go after what you want in life. It is a way to achieve who you want to become, and senior year looks like it's going to bring up a lot of reminders about that. In the past I have usually dreaded the first day of school, and this year was no exception. I didn't want my summer to end early, I hate introducing myself four separate times for four different classes, and the workload piles up faster than I can blink. But you know what, I will hopefully embrace that messy pile of stress, because as of May 2017, I will no longer be a student. That's going to be a new feeling for me, since I've been a student my whole life. I'm going to try my hardest to savor what it feels like to be in a classroom, to take notes, to write reports, to have Christmas break, to have exams. But the one thing that won't change on graduation day is my ability to learn. People continue learning until they day they die, and college will have provided me with new tools to gather what knowledge I can and to be able to use that knowledge wisely.

So this year, I drove myself to my first day of school. It was a night class, so no lunchbox was needed. Having just sprained my toe, I wasn't feeling my best, as I did that sunny morning with my hair curled for first grade. Dad now rests in peace, but I can see his smile in the poster I asked my Mom to make for old times' sake. My nervousness was calmed by the hugs of my little sisters and the doggy kiss from my Golden Retriever. And as I got into the car, I could see in my Mom's face the pride and the heartache of sending me off and watching me leave, doubled in intensity on Dad's behalf. I still feel as loved as I did on that day in first grade, but the love has grown, and changed, and expanded. This year will surely have its ups and downs, but it will be one to treasure.