12 Emotional Responses To Being A College Senior

1. You cry when you move into your new dorm or apartment, and you’re not entirely sure if it’s because it’s your last move in day ever or because you are still oh so very uncertain what life after graduation will hold for you.

2. When you go out to a bar or party and are chatted up by some presumably younger looking fellow, you become enraged when they ask you if you’re a freshman. I mean sure, it’s always a compliment when someone assumes that you’re younger, but come on! I’ve been doing this for four years! Respect me, damn it!

3. In class, you look around the room at the underclassmen and are instantly overcome with the feeling of infinite wisdom and superiority to your counterparts.

4. When you see members of last year’s graduating class hanging around campus or at parties, you immediately judge them with your friends. You then instantly internalize your fear that you may be this person in one year’s time.

5. You have almost given up entirely on your going out wardrobe and ask your roommates if it is socially acceptable to wear pajamas and/or Toms out.

6. You notice, sometimes with great sadness, that your conversations have transitioned away from “where are you from?” and “what’s your major?” to “so what are you doing with your life?” You are relieved that, like you, not many people know the answer.

7. You know now not to judge a book by its cover, but you can judge a man by where he studied abroad.

8. You begin to have carpe diem moments and acknowledge that you only have a limited amount of time left to do the things that are only socially acceptable to do in college. This could include, but is not limited to, getting extraneous facial or naval piercings, professing your love to an old crush, or taking all those art classes that you love, but never could find the time for.

9. You are finally able to laugh at your failures from the past four years–socially, academically, romantically, etc., because you know you are past them…but you still can’t help but let your curiosity wander and imagine what could have been.

10. You realize that there is no class ahead of you and take note of how young all the freshmen look. You and your friends then have a spiral of breakdown blackouts, as you now understand that this truly is it.

11. You also experience a new form of confidence in being the top dog at your school. You walk triumphantly with conviction through your campus, navigating skillfully through hoards of underclassmen without the intimidation that you felt previously.

12. You are grateful for your experiences and for your time. You are worried, but you are going to enjoy it anyway. And as you prepare to let the best four years of your life go behind you, you are prepared to have 80 more best years come as they may.