Today, my 22nd birthday, I did the unthinkable.
I graduated from St. Olaf College. It still feels surreal. After all, the College on the Hill has served as my home for my entire adult life so far – a stress-filled, Pause-dancing, reference-room-studying, caf-food-all-the-time, “HOLY CRAP THE PAPER IS ACTUALLY DUE TODAY!!!” kind of home, but a home nonetheless.
But, like every home, you have to pick up and leave your comfortable roost to really move forward in life. I’m eternally grateful for my time on the Hill – the friendships that have turned into family, the late-nights that have turned into mornings and the questions that have turned into answers (and, in a whole lot of cases, even more questions). So, with bittersweet tears and a stupid-looking hat on my head, I bid a fond “see you later” to St. Olaf – because, like Randy Clay pointed out, it’s never really goodbye.
Um Ya Ya forever.
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