“$65.00,” says the woman at the university bookstore.I was finally purchasing my graduation cap and gown. I took my bag, left the bookstore and headed home.
As I got home, I sat down to look at this curtain-looking gown, the one that would be covering my dress of choice. What caught my eye, even more than the gown, was the cap.
I picked it up and took a good look at the tassel. “Class of 2010,” it read. The only thought that cluttered my mind at that point was, “Weird. I have to be a big girl now.”
I held the cap at about an arm’s length away and slowly moved the tassel from the right side to the left while announcing in my head, “Class of 2010, you may now turn your tassels.”
Picturing that’s how it would be in less than 11 days, I began reflecting back on my college education. As I was sitting there looking at my turned tassel, I begin wondering what I had actually learned in those four years.
Even though it seemed like a whole lot of busy work to me, I knew that couldn’t be what a college education was all about. After reflecting back on the countless papers I wrote, I quickly shifted my thoughts to the experiences.
Opinion editor on the Reflector staff, balancing cheerleading, two to three part-time jobs and school and my internship with Indianapolis Woman were all part of my college experience. Yes, the education goes hand-in-hand, but college is really about shaping character and separating the determined from the lazy.
If I have learned anything from my college years, I have learned what perseverance is. If I can just push myself a little harder to make it through to the next assignment, semester, year, to graduation, I will walk away with a huge prize –– a college degree.
In the end, that simple piece if paper will distinguish me from the others, open doors and demonstrate my dedication and hard work.
I will leave you with a quote from Orison Swett Marden, an American writer associated with the New Thought Movement.
“Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.”
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by Crystal Abrell
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