It’s finals week, and I honestly don’t know what to say.

Maybe I could start with the fact that it feels as if the entire semester has just flown by faster than any semester I’ve ever experienced. And as happy as I am that it’s almost Christmas and that I’m going to get over a month’s break from school, there’s another part of me that doesn’t want this semester to end.

Some of this derives from my transition into my senior year next spring. There’s a tangible fear that my future is about to begin in a year. But then I really think about it and realize that I felt this very way when thinking about graduating from high school. But most of my sadness about the end of the semester comes from everything that I’ve learned in these last few months.

It starts with my professors. I couldn’t have been luckier to have the learning opportunities and experiences that I did this semester. I re-took two of my professors from the semester before for different classes and became a better writer, student and person because of the hours they dedicated to helping me. This is not to say that the professors I hadn’t had before weren’t outstanding—because they were amazing. I gained so much insight on who I want to be and what kind of career I want to have because my professors inspired me from day one to push for my dreams. I haven’t wanted to cry after leaving a class before this, but so far, I’ve teared up walking out of each classroom this semester. That’s a really amazing feeling.

I’ve also pushed myself to new levels.I held an internship as a student reporter with Alabama Public Radio and got to write a feature piece about my experience volunteering in Baton Rouge after the floods. Writing is a huge passion of mine, so being able to write something to be aired over the state is so empowering for me as a writer. I even took up writing here at the Odyssey so I could do the thing I love on a weekly basis. I chose classes because they would challenge me, not because they would be easy to pass. I spent hours awake at night doing homework. I picked up a job as a waitress on the weekends.

I don’t want to say all this to show off how busy I was, or any sort of talent that I have, as I owe all of my gifts to the good, good Lord above. I say all this to encourage others to have a semester that challenges them, to push themselves beyond their limits. I never knew how powerful I was until I gave myself that chance.

So, if you even slightly think that you’re missing out on something, or that you can push yourself more, I promise you that if you put yourself out there, that risk will not return void. Sometimes our answers may be “not this,” but that’s only because something greater is coming for us. Go find it.