April 21, 2008

In many ways, this past week felt like my last week of college. I know there are still two weeks left, but they are much different than the rest of the semester. Dead week is wonderful because you typically don’t have a lot of homework to do other than to study for finals, and during finals week, you don’t go to regular classes.

I am lucky this semester because I have only two tests on finals week. For my other two classes, I turned in a final project, which will count as my final in the class.

I had been working on these projects since the semester began and it felt great to finally put everything together and present it to the class. A lot of students don’t like presentations, but I love sharing my projects with other people and hearing what everyone else in the class has been working on.

It was great to see all we had accomplished, but it did make me a little sad because I know the end of my college career is just around the corner. I will miss being on campus every day and seeing all my professors and the wonderful friends I have here.

I was thinking about all of this as I prepared to give a speech on Saturday to the Heritage Society. The Heritage Society is a group of donors who have chosen to give part of their estates to OSU.  The Foundation asked me to speak with them about what my time at OSU has meant to me and how my scholarships have helped me achieve my dreams.

I was so honored to get to share my story with some of the wonderful people who support this university. It allowed me to say thank you and let them know how their contributions help change the lives of students.

Before I came to OSU, I didn’t know how much college would change me. Now, as I approach graduation, I realize how much I have grown in the past four years.

I have really enjoyed college. There are parts of it I didn’t particularly enjoy at the time (like staying up until 3 a.m. to study for my media law tests), but now that I look back, it has all been well worth it.

This year has been extra special because of all the friendships I’ve made and all the experiences I’ve had. My involvement with the Public Relations Student Society of America and the OSU Student Foundation has given me memories that will last a lifetime. It will be very hard to say goodbye.

What is ironic about the situation is that I will be saying goodbye to college as my youngest brother says hello. In the fall, he will start his college career at OSU. I guess from now on, I will just have to live through his experiences!

Next week, I will be taking a break from my blog to prepare for my finals. So in two weeks, when I post my next and final blog, I will be a college graduate!! 

	This is a picture of the big picnic on Library Lawn on Monday. Doesn’t it look fun?
	This past Tuesday was the last general meeting of the Student Foundation. We had a banquet to celebrate a good year.
	Here I am with my committee members. We had such a great time this year. I love them all, and I will miss them so much!
	For Zach’s birthday, I bought him his very first OSU shirt. I get the feeling he’ll be using it a lot next year.