All My Friends Are Graduating

(^ That photo is ridiculous)

My Facebook feed is full of pictures of my friends in grad caps and gowns, holding fancy pieces of paper, with huge smiles on their faces.

And they should be smiling! Graduation is a huge accomplishment, no matter what you’re graduating from. It could be driver’s education, high school, university, or even Laser Tag University (I don’t know if that’s a real thing, but I want it to be a real thing).

For me, it was supposed to be Creative Communications.

After trudging through three and a half years of university straight out of high school, I finally found a program that I loved with CreComm. Now, I’m not saying that all of university was a drag. I loved running for the Bisons Track and Field team, and I loved living in residence. There were classes that were awesome as well, but there was no real direction for me, and school itself wasn’t something that I was loving.

Getting into CreComm was the best thing that could have happened to me after struggling to find my way after my Dad died in 2011 (I can’t believe it’s been three and a half years). CreComm is an engaging, fast paced program, with awesome instructors. The people I met are fantastic, and I love them all dearly.

That’s the biggest reason that I’m sad I can’t graduate with them.

I’m one elective short of graduating. With all of the things that were going on with me over the past year, I couldn’t quite pull it all together. And while I have a plan for getting that credit in the fall, I really wish I could walk across the stage in their company. I want you all to know how incredible you are, so I have this to say:

To the Creative Communications Class of 2014:

You are all magnificent individuals. Never have I been so consistently blown away by the creativity, writing talent, design skills, and originality you brought as classmates. But you weren’t just my classmates, you ARE my friends. Even when we had to battle through the most gruelling of assignments, the earliest of mornings, or the hardest of days, you have been a safety net filled with soft pillows and puppies. If you ever need help with anything, or just want to shoot the shit over some beers on a hot day, I’m here. Congratulations to everyone who graduated. I know all the hard work and late nights broke you down, but they also built you up into amazing creative professionals. I hope you are all immediately hired and payed exorbitant amounts of money to do what you love.

After writing that, I don’t feel so bad about not graduating yet. All those photos on Facebook aren’t about me not graduating, it’s about all of you achieving something awesome that you worked so hard for. I’ll join you all soon.

You’re all super rad.