Every beginning has an end. And every end is a new beginning. It's a relentless cycle seen in every aspect of our lives. College graduation is no exception. A year starts; a year ends, only to give birth to another. That is how I felt for two and half years. As much as I anticipate the start of a new year, I know that fate says it will cease. The weeks pass and I engulf myself in all things related to college life: studying hard, working even harder, debating on every decision made. But, somewhere in the back of my mind, I know that as every week passes, the end draws near.
This past weekend and the weekends upcoming marks for most colleges a tradition simply known as—Graduation—a day set aside to honor those who got through college with hard work, some with luck, but everyone who will cherish every last minute of their college life. Bittersweet to say the least.
For two to three years(for some, it's been 6-7 years), everyone who wore the green robe(George Mason University) have put their heart and soul into trying hard to win this game called college life. They've logged hundreds of hours with the books, in front of the computers/laptops, and many sleepless nights in the couches. And let's not forget the time spent in class to fulfill academic requirements—the lectures, the exams, the labs, and the study groups. No, it hasn't been easy, but it has been worth every minute. They've tried their best to be the best, and have probably succeeded, some failed, but nevertheless everyone experienced college life and learned a lot through the years. They've laughed; they've cried; they've leaped; they've fallen down; they've felt the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
But now it's over.
It's like, when the whistle blows at the end of the fourth quarter, it'll be the last time they'll hear that sound on their home field. The last time they'll stand in the middle of thousands upon thousands of adoring fans. The last time they'll hear the band play the music that carried them through the years.
Sure, many of the grads will find a job and even earn large paychecks for doing what they love to do, or at least trying to, but deep inside their beings they know that it won't measure up to the fun they had in college. Because it is a professional world out there, and everyone has to grow up being who they will eventually be. Life never lets us be kids forever. What every one of us dreamed about since we started college - A happy job with paychecks giving us the freedom to do whatever we want to. The dream was in every way exactly how you imagined it to be.
On this graduation day, most of them will have their parents or friends on the sidelines to hug and smile and most assuredly take pictures, trying to freeze this moment in time. You can feel the warmth when they hug you, they are feeling the same emotion but somehow can't describe it. And when you look up into the stands, up at them as they watch in awe of such a spectacle, it is worth framing the seconds. To all those whose family couldn't make it on that day, I bet you, there were thousands of people cheering you, you were not alone. And especially there is always a close friend of yours, who would be there to cheer for you, make sure you are not alone, who, even as you promise you would be there for their graduation, knows the utter lie behind that commitment.
Finally, the whistle has blown, the game is over, it's time to go home. And as these players walk out through the tunnel one last time, another group is coming in for the first. So begins the cycle once again.
Thanks for the memories, George Mason University. IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT.
To all the graduates, good luck in whatever the future holds.
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