As I head into my last semester at Ferris, I’m surprised by how much I’m looking forward to what comes next.
For the first time since arriving on campus, the path beyond graduation feels clear, and the future I used to worry about now feels within reach. With the fall semester ending and the final one approaching, it isn’t just the end of a chapter.
It will be the start of everything I’ve worked toward, and I’m entering this final stretch of university with more purpose and far more optimism than when I first started.
A lot of that optimism comes from realizing how much I’ve changed during my time here. This place has challenged me, frustrated me and pushed me out of my comfort zone more times than I can count.
But it also gave me room to grow into someone ready for what comes next. I’ve built relationships that grounded me and lost some along the way as well. I have found mentors who guided me and helped me discover strengths I didn’t know I had.
As the idea of graduation gets closer, I’m less focused on what I’m leaving behind and more excited about the possibilities waiting on the other side. What’s surprised me most as graduation gets closer is the realization that I can choose what comes next.
For the first time, my life doesn’t feel directed by anyone else’s expectations or tied to relationships or routines that once shaped my decisions.
I can live where I want, pursue the career I want and build the kind of life that feels right for me. That freedom is exciting, but it also reminds me that I still have one semester left to finish. Before I take the next step, I owe it to myself to end strong and start planning for the future I want to create.
But I think this is also where a lot of us start to fall short. Winter break gives us just enough time to relax, then panic, then convince ourselves we should have everything figured out before classes even start again.
We slip into what everyone calls senioritis, but it feels like it is more than laziness. It’s the pressure of realizing the clock is running out and instead of enjoying that final stretch, we get overwhelmed by everything we think we need to accomplish.
The irony is that these are some of the last moments we’ll spend living the college life we once couldn’t wait to experience. Maybe instead of stressing over the finish line, we should permit ourselves to enjoy it.
For me, winter break is shaping up to be this strange mix of looking ahead and slowing down. I know I need to use some of the time to actually think about my future. Not in a dramatic, life-changing way but in a realistic one.
There are things I’ve avoided during the semester because I was too tired or too busy, like looking at jobs, thinking about where I might want to live and figuring out what my first steps after Ferris might look like. I don’t want to wait until April to start all that.
But at the same time, I can feel how badly I need a break. Not the kind where you tell yourself you’re relaxing but spend all day worrying about what you’re not doing. A real break.
I want a few days where I don’t open my laptop, don’t think about deadlines, and don’t try to map out the next five years of my life. I want to sleep in, see people I haven’t seen in months and remind myself what it feels like to breathe without a schedule attached to it.
So this break is going to be somewhere in the middle. I’ll plan a little, rest a lot and try not to guilt myself for whichever one I’m doing, because when I come back in January, I want to feel ready. Not overwhelmed, just ready.
It is safe to say that I am ready to finish the semester strong, and I am actually looking forward to the spring semester. I know I need to enjoy the time I have left here and then be ready to step into whatever comes next with a clearer head than the one I’ve been running on all fall.
JM
C.E. C.F.