Sunday, May 5, 2013

The start of many lasts...

I've been doing quite a bit of reflecting lately with friends as it begins to hit us that this really is the end of our college career in the classroom. As pharmacy students we've had a rather long period of saying goodbye to Drake and our friends.

I feel like I had a lot of "lasts" last year with the end of being a DG collegian such as: last formal, last night living in DG, last time being a student with many of my friends, last chapter, etc. As I said goodbye to a lot of my friends when they graduated it seemed like I would be at Drake forever. I mean I still don't graduate until May 2014 (which still seems like a long time from now), but now I'm realizing the year went rather quickly. It's still very strange to walk on campus and see people wearing letters that I don't know, or to walk across campus and feel really old since I don't recognize the majority of the student body anymore.

Now it's just starting to sink in that this really is my last week of classes. I will never again be a student going to class everyday, sitting in lectures, or going to labs (unless I decide to go back to school which is very unlikely). I won't be seeing the same group of students that I've been in class with pretty much everyday for the past 5 years.

Courtney and I were talking about all of this tonight at her house and just reflecting on our friendship and also just our Drake experience. I told her that I really don't think it'll feel real that I'm not a student until everyone is on rotations doing their thing and we don't see each other in class everyday. I was also joking/serious that it won't feel like it is really different until October when she's not in Des Moines with me anymore and we can't just call each other to hang out on the spot anymore.

It's also just strange to reflect back on these past 5 years at Drake. When people tell you it goes by fast so enjoy every minute you really don't believe them. Especially when you're having a bad week or are super busy with tests/projects/papers/etc it seems like this college experience will never end. But now I see how fast it really goes by. It seems like just yesterday sometimes when I was moving in freshman year and didn't know anyone. Now I really feel like Drake is my home and I can usually walk anywhere and see at least 1 person that I know (or at least recognize).

I also don't really think that I've changed that much since I was a freshman at Drake. I feel like the same person, but then when I reflect back on the past 5 years I see how much I've changed and grown. This has been a time for me to really figure out who I am and what I believe in. It really has been a time of me just being able to live life with people who have different beliefs, backgrounds, etc. and really learn from them and try and understand them better. College has really taught me so much about who I am and I think I'll be leaving Drake a much more confident person and someone who is much more sure of themselves. Not that I have things figured out by any means, but I at least am on my way and am much more comfortable with who I am.

So here's the a week of many more lasts: the last day of Monday classes, Tuesday classes, etc., the last time having a test in college, the last time sitting next to the people who have been there for me these past 5 years, the last....

I'm so thankful for my "Drake Experience" and all of the people who have been a part of it. For all of the times I hated pharmacy school (and I'm sure they'll be many more in these next couple weeks) I'm very thankful for the chance to be a pharmacy student at Drake. I'm also very excited/nervous to start my first rotation in a couple weeks and to learn so much more about what being a pharmacist really is about.

Thanks for reading through my mess of reflections and hopefully some of it made sense. Right now I feel like my brain is just a jumble of emotions/thoughts/etc. with studying and preparing for rotations that I'm not sure if it really makes any sense.

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