Like any good roller coaster ride, my GPA and I have had our ups and downs. There were those moments of sheer terror when it seemed like my heart flew out of my chest and we left it behind. We can't forget the stomach drops either. You know what I'm talking about right? Those drops where it feels like your stomach dropped out of your butt and you will never make it safely back to the ground.

Yeah, that's an accurate depiction of the relationship my GPA and I have. But more seriously, my GPA means a lot to me. Not in the "Must have 4.0 for grad school" kind of way. More in the this is a product of my 4 years, look how hard I worked despite the odds kind of way.

I don't have a perfect GPA, never in my life have I ever had a perfect GPA. I felt a lot of shame about that my sophomore year until some corrected me and told me that Just because other people's best may be higher than mine, didn't mean I wasn't trying my best.

My GPA simply tells other people how I measure up to someone's idea of a standard. To me it says, here's when I was really struggling. Here's when I worked my butt off and brought it back up. Here's when I tried my best and that just wasn't quite enough, and that's okay.

There were so many times I would obsessively calculate my GPA, trying every scenario, plugging in every possible grade for every class I was taking. My GPA used to be all I thought about.

But now, now my GPA is like an old friend to me. We nod at each other at the end of every semester and move on. It doesn't tell me how much better I could have done, it doesn't fill me with guilt. It just tells me "You did your best kid, see you next semester."

It's strange to think next semester might be my GPA and I's last journey together, but I'm ready and my GPA is ready to have a break from me-- haha.

My GPA has been with me since the start, from finding friends, group projects, pledging, homecoming, we've seen it all. We are just months away from our last event together, graduation.

Thank you GPA for always keeping me on my toes, being there for me, and never letting me give up my dreams. May we finish out this semester strong.