First NOT first day of school. WEIRD!

It's a new day. Your alarm goes off. You smack the button, hoping for a few more minutes of precious shuteye. You finally open your eyes to a weird feeling. You can't really put your finger on what's weird, but you just know it is.

That's the scenario I woke up to today. I immediately knew today was going to be...funny. I started out putting on a totally mismatched outfit (yes, this is important and unusual!). Then, my coffee was totally burnt. I never burn the coffee! Driving to work felt like an out-of-body experience...and not in a good way. All day at work, I just felt off. My brain failed to connect to my mouth or any of my limbs. It was just a funny day.

As I drove home, I tried to figure out what made it weird. Usually these weird days come when you're getting sick or the day has some weird significance. Well, this girl has zero time and/or patience for sickness in her life, so I Emergen-C'd that possibility right out of the gate. Then, as I drove down 46th Street toward the main entrance to Butler, it hit me. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it sooner because the significance of today had been haunting me for weeks. I was no longer a college student. Officially. Today, I was working in the adult world, while my friends and peers were starting spring semester. No more papers. No more homework. No more awesome classes with professors I adore. No more falling asleep in the edit bays or having dance parties in the hall as your story exports to keep you alert. No more stressful club meetings where you wish people would care as much as you do. No more late nights in The Butler Collegian office when you come up with the best headlines (case in point: "Same sh*t, different year"). Butler is no longer my home away from home...officially.

I've been waiting for this day FOR-EVER! Looking forward to it, in fact. I was ready to be an adult from the time I walked into my first class as a freshy back in August of 2006. When you're living it, it seems like forever. Once it's over, it seems like a minute. I won't sound like every other graduate and say, "Don't wish it away. You have your whole life to work. Enjoy it while you're in it." But I will say, don't regret anything you did in college, even if it was not what you'd consider your best moment. Take every moment and make it memorable. That way, you'll graduate ready to conquer the world and feeling like you did everything you could to make the most of your college years. Whether that's doing as many internships as possible or hitting up the most bars as possible, that's up to you.

However you choose to spend your time, make sure it makes you happy and makes you feel fulfilled. That way, when you wake up to your first NOT first day of class, you won't feel weird. You'll smile thinking about the good times you had and those yet to come...

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