How to End Four Incredible Years?

Hold on folks, because this is going to be a long one.

Tomorrow is my very last day of classes. I am so close to ending my time here at Saint Mike's & it's exciting, sad, exhilarating, weird, & awesome. I'm excited for graduation day, but it's definitely going to be bittersweet to say goodbye to the people here & to the place that I've called home for four years.

I've been thinking about what to write in this final post for days, but I cant think of anything to really sum up my experience. Instead, I'm going to just review my time at Saint Mike's.

Me & Lhanzi

August 2011. I had just turned 18 & I was shy & was completely terrified to come to school. I didn't know anyone. I came to move-in day, which was exciting & entirely overwhelming. I met my roommate, Lhanzi, & we got along really well. Eventually we became close friends & I'm so happy to say that we're still close today.

Emma, me, Amelia, & Merrill

I joined the church choir & met some awesome people. I started to make more & more friends. I was starting to really fit in at Saint Mike's!

Juliana, me, Lauren K, & Lauren M

I became a blogger & met so many other first years. I saw most of these people every once in a while but became pretty good friends with a lot of them.

Emma, me, Vick, Lauren K, Cait, & Danny

I ended the year with a great crew. I was really feeling like I fit in at Saint Mike's & I was so happy to be here.

Me & Cait

My friends & I planned our first trip to Canada to see Jason Mraz perform in Montreal. We had a crazy fun weekend, just exploring the city & hanging out.

The Her Campus team

I started a Saint Mike's chapter of Her Campus with Lauren M. We had a staff of 20 students & met weekly to plan & write content.

My first business competition

I started joining business competitions & really enjoyed them! At this point I had switched my major four times & was finally set on my business major. I asked Professor Popovich to be my advisor & I started to get to know the awesome business faculty.

Lauren, ma, Merrill, Meaghan, & Devan

I got to be a Teaching Assistant for a first year seminar course, Horses & Healing. I was paid to help the Professor & to volunteer at a therapeutic riding farm each week.

FEE group photo

The summer before junior year I got funding from Saint Mike's to attend an economics seminar in South Carolina. It was such a fun week!

Me, Cara & Lauren

I spent a little more time with friends the fall semester of my junior year. I went hiking with my roommates & met a lot of new people in my classes.

London!

The spring semester of my junior year, I studied abroad! I studied at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland & traveled all over Europe in my time there. It was the most amazing semester.

Congressman Joe Kennedy & me

The summer before my senior year I interned in Congressman Joe Kenendy's office in Massachusetts. It was such an incredible & fun experience!

The Mass Dems intern crew

I also interned last summer at the Massachusetts Democratic Party, where I met so many politically-minded  interns. I made some really smart, funny & awesome friends.

Cait, me, Merrill, & Lauren

Senior year started off great! I live with a great group of girls this year. Fall semester was stressful. I had some difficult classes & was concurrently applying to graduate school.

Jake, Ryan, Meg, Isabelle, & me

In March I competed in my final business competition with a great group of students. We went to SUNY Plattsburgh for a creativity & innovation challenge. We had a great day & we performed really well - we won second place! 

Brian, Erin, me, Bizzy, & Mike

Of course, I also participated in Founders this year. I'm a blogger & tour guide & this year I worked as a coordinator. In September we traveled to Massachusetts for an admissions conference.

Bizzy, Matt, me, Erin, & Brian

We were busy all year! This semester we were busy hiring new tour guides.

Brian, Bizzy, me, & Erin

Our final event together! Yesterday we held our annual Founders Society awards ceremony. It was so much fun but it will be sad leaving this crew!

In these last four years, I've made so many great friends & had so many amazing experiences. However, these things don't compare to the personal growth I've experienced at Saint Mike's. I've really come into my own here. I've met professors & staff members who really care about me & my ambitions.

Saint Mike's has been a sort of holistic retreat. I've explored my spirituality, discovered my passions. I've really, truly become the person that I want to be - confident, educated, kind, engaged, & excited about life.

I am the person that I am today because of my family, my childhood and so much more. But Saint Mike's is and forever will be a large part of me. I'll always know Saint Mike's as the place that allowed me to grow into my best self & I'll always know Saint Mike's as home.