Written by Sam Collier

As I finish up my final weeks of undergrad, I find myself reflecting on my past four and a half years of college. My freshman year, I attended West Virginia University, and it did not feel like the place for me. Sophomore year I switched to CCAC to save money because I did not want to make the same mistake again. And at last, in my junior year I found my home, Carlow University.  

Being a first-generation college student is hard. There is different amount of pressure you feel upon yourself because you think everyone expects you to fail. That was not going to be me. I knew what I wanted in life, and I knew what I had to do to get it. Did I expect it to be easy? No. But the best things in life never are. 

It was weird starting at a new school as a junior. You walk into class where many of the students have already known each other for the past two years. I also did not live on campus which made it a bit harder to make friends. I spent a lot of my free time on campus doing schoolwork and talking to my mom on the phone because, of course, your mother is always your best friend. I wouldn’t say I had the most “traditional” college experience, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

I want to say thank you to my mother who has been my rock not only my entire life, but especially the past four and a half years. If it was not for her, I would have tried quitting a thousand times, and she has always pushed me to be my best. Thank you to Dr. Balmert for being a great advisor and listening to me cry time and time again. Thank you to the few people I can still call friends even if we do not see each other every day now. And thank you to all professors who have put up with me the past two and half years and all my late assignments, you guys are the real heroes.  

While it is upsetting to be ending what seemed to be a never-ending chapter of my life, I am excited for the opportunities it will lead me towards. I never thought this day would come, or that I would even make it to this day, but here we are. Congratulations to all graduating this semester and to everyone else, good luck. Farewell, Carlow.