Reflections: The College of Wooster - Graduation, May 12th 2014 - 'Learning to Let Go'

Reflections:

Going through high school you can’t wait to get to college, in order to truly begin the path toward your desired career. Everyone always talks about the opportunities you will be able to explore and embrace.

While all of this is true, it really depends on your own initiative to make the most out of your college experience. On graduation day there were so many thoughts and experiences passing through my mind. As I took a moment to reflect on each, I realized that I had truly made the most of my turbulent college career.

My path took of to a bumpy start, when I interrupted my studies in studio art, at The School Of The Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston. After taking a semester off – in which I frantically faced existential identity crises – I realized I needed the support of an institution in order to realize the future I wanted to find myself in.

At the College of Wooster I began embracing every opportunity that presented itself. When Coach Rice suggested I joined the Track & Field team, I made sure I showed up that first Monday at 4pm. This was probably one of the best decisions I made, because on the Track & Field team I have found some of my closest friends. The following year, it was there that one truly wonderful man caught sight of me and decided he just ‘had’ to get to know me.

My second year our RA, Richa Ekka, decided that I had to join her and her ‘sisters’ for dinner one night. Before I knew it I was pledging for the sorority Delta Phi Alpha. I never in my wildest dreams believed I would be one of those girls, but the girls that are part of the organization are like family to me. Hosting our 25th anniversary this past April really reaffirmed the reasons I had joined this on-site family. The warmth of support could be felt in the room and was verbally expressed by some truly emotional speeches given.

Of course, if I were to try and write down everything that happened and all of the wonderful moments I have had the opportunity to experience, we would be here for days!

Along with all the ups, there were certainly downs too. But, honestly high school was worse than anything I had experienced in college.

While at The College of Wooster, I decided to organize TEDxWooster (an independently organized TED event). This past February we successfully hosted it a second time around with the help of a wonderful body of students from ‘Launch’, the college’s entrepreneurship club, lead by Peter Abramo.

So, while I wilting away, dressed in my cap and gown, sitting in the sweltering – and beautifully decorated mind you – gym auditorium, I was truly grateful and appreciative of my life.

I think the picture here expressed everything I was feeling that day. I know my mom is going to kill me, but this day also carried with it not only the hopes and promises for the future, but also many moments of closure.

Entering the ‘real world’ now I face uncertainty, but that’s ok because without it I wouldn’t have the opportunity to find change. Luckily I have a supportive family, and hopefully a good enough resume and smart enough brain to get me through the next few years.

The journey really begins now! I hope that my attempts, at consolidating myself through a singular webpage, might make up for the lack of control I seem to be encountering in my physical life at the moment. Perhaps it is nothing more than “virtual insanity” (Jamiroquai) though, who knows…

More posts to come…