Four years flew by

BETHANY TULLER — Online Editor
Yes, this is a cliché graduation column.
I think the word “bittersweet” was created to define moments like this. I’m graduating college, and on the cusp of a new chapter in life.
It’s sweet because I am about to become a college graduate and about to embark on the new adventure of graduate school in a new city. It’s bitter because as I watch my friends and the clubs I’m involved in plan for the up­coming year, I’m jealous that I have to leave the college lifestyle behind and miss out on all of the fun they will have next year.
As I look back on the past four years, I never would have expected I would be the person that I am today. I’m writing this column and replaying all of the crazy, hilarious, memorable moments of the last four years of my life, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything. My education and professors have been outstanding and I am proud to say that I received my degree at SCSU.
One Friday afternoon, first semester freshman year, I walked up the stairs of the Student Center with a girl that I had just met, a nervous freshman like me, into our first Student Government Associa­tion meeting. Last Friday, I attended my last SGA meeting as Vice President. The friends, the mentors and the opportunities I received from involvement in SGA have gone far beyond what I can write in this column. It is because of SGA that I can walk confidently across that stage in three weeks and know that I made a difference on this campus. I will be enrolling in a Student Affairs masters program this fall, and I hope that I can one day challenge and encourage the students I worked with the way my mentors have challenged and encouraged me.
If I could share some words of wisdom with Southern students, it would be this: Go to class. Attend events and games. People worked hard on those events, and it means a lot when you’re there for more than just the free shirt. Go downtown, and not just on Thursday nights. There is so much his­tory in New Haven; it would be a shame to miss it. Finally, smile. Be happy that you are at Southern and enjoy it, because it goes by way too fast.