I would like to say a few words to the senior class of 2002. As we all come back from spring break we are now forced to face the reality that there are less than two months left in our long run as college students. I'm sure reading that last sentence was as depressing to read as it was to write, but I have good news: We got good times ahead.
Firstly, I would like to make sure we all are approaching these final weeks with the right mindset. What is natural for us to do is to dread every tomorrow what with having to find a job, getting into graduate school or figuring out just what in the hell we're supposed to do now. I'm thinking this is the end of a long race. What do you do when you finally see the finish line? I'll tell you what you do: you sprint your ass off like a tortoise on smack. Whatever it is that you enjoy about college, revel in it. If you loved barbecues, reading on the quad, playing some sport, whatever you considered good times then I implore you to have as many more of them as you can because the simple fact is that the precious friends and relationships that we all have built over the last four years are never going to be the same after you graduate. Don't let your responsibilities cloud the reality of where we actually are in life. Keep your eye on the big picture. We have to celebrate each other to the point that when graduation comes there will be no room for any "I wish I could have spent more time with" or "its too bad I never got around to". When I receive my diploma I want the first thing in my mind to be "Damn I sure am sick of these people". If this is the mentality we carry with us, then the next few weeks are going to be exhausting, but that's how you know you did it right.
With regards to post-college living, it's not as bad as we fear it to be. I acknowledge that I have no firsthand experience that would corroborate this little claim of mine, but hear me out. We've all been inundated with the "real world" brouhaha that we will all to join with 9 to 5 jobs, bills, student loans, and all that cheery ice cream. If you're focusing on that then I think you're overlooking something pretty exciting. We are all extremely dumb right now. Look at yourself when you were a freshman in high school as opposed to a senior in high school. Then again look at yourself when you were a freshman in college as opposed to a senior in college. Comparing these times in your life with each other reveal that growing generally makes you better. You are able to come into who you are, you can involve yourself in things you never would have thought would interest you, you meet strange, interesting, annoying, cool, fun and amazing people, and without fail you can look back on yourself and know that you had so much to learn.
We're all going to have phases in our lives that begin and end with hallmark moments. We are all now staring down the barrel of a diploma. I simply say that we don't stop running. Continue to grow and celebrate life with those around you. I'm really trying not to sound like such a flower child here but I can't help but say that roads are for journey's, not for destinations. I'm still enjoying this one. I can't wait to enjoy the next.
Ricardo Martinez is a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering