It was nearly four years ago that I wrote this in an old blog:

I'm still not over the novelty of my shiny new laptop. I keep trying it out in new places. Perhaps I'll compute in the music room, then the kitchen, then Heather's room, on my bed, and at the pub table. Okay, while some of the glamor of being able to sit anywhere and type on my computer has begun to wear off, I must say, I am really happy about the whole thing. My Daddy and Mum just gave it to me for graduation/starting college. I finally seem to be pulling stuff together for school. Linens are accumulating into a stack in the corner of my room. Lamps and bowls and other essentials are being gathered together, and I finally feel it approaching. I feel like this summer has been different from the other ones. Actually having a job makes the days pass fast, but the weeks drag on. It's an odd way to see it, but as the start of school looms ever closer, I begin to forget the duller parts of the past two months. Only the bright parts stick out. While I was immersed in it, it seemed like this summer didn't match up to the ones in years gone by, but now, in looking back, I think that all we ever see are the best parts. We forget about all the down time we've had as we work at school, and once a new one begins, we are amazed at how dull summer can be after a few weeks of it. Still, overall, I think I've enjoyed it. In three weeks I'll, like the rest of you, be starting brand new classes, while I'm filled with excitement that is mingled with a bit of anxiety and uncertainty. I keep playing out little scenarios in my mind of me going to classes, walking around campus, sleeping with another person across the room from me, and eating with complete strangers. I don't think any of that which rolls through my head will really be as I see it now, but I continue to think on it. Sometimes it makes me laugh, as I can have a vivid and wild imagination. I believe everyone's had some of the same thoughts as I have. Nothing really new. I've heard many tales from friends and family what their college years were like. Still, I wonder, what stories will I be able to tell my friends and children long after I have left this school, and many of the people around it?

I have a week and a half left in college. It is sinking in now, as I am finding out where I am going to work, finishing papers and presentations, and starting to pack my belongings into boxes. And as I cannot help being reflective, I have been thinking a lot about my time here at ULM. I have been thinking about the things I have done here, the people I have met, and how it has all changed me. I have turned into a much more confident person, but feel less original with that. I have built relationships around me that I would not trade for anything. I have loved many people, made connections and lost them. I have learned that I can get up in front of a large group of people and speak confidently, that I cry when I am angry, that I hate doing laundry, and that speaking my mind makes me happier than I was ever before. In my mind this list continues on and on, marking and checking events, people, and places over the four years I've had here. Parts have been good, and parts have been bad. But I can't help wondering how good my memory is. I keep thinking about what I wrote four years ago, how we only remember the bright parts. And now, another summer approaches, but my year will no longer begin in the fall. I won't have that time for reflection that I had every year. So really I keep wondering, what are going to be the bright parts now? What will stand out for me? I continue to build scenarios of my life just as I did when I approached the start of college. Only now they stretch much further. But honestly, my vivid imagination cannot bring together what lies in store for me. So the same feelings return; I'm filled with excitement that is mingled with a bit of anxiety and uncertainty. And because of that, I know it will all be okay. The things I recall from being here that shaped me and made me were proceeded by those emotions. It was hard, and it made me good. So, I gather my linens, bowls, books, and essentials to take away from this place, and I welcome the future as I leave the halls of this school and continue forward with my life.