Graduation Countdown & Reflection
The countdown to graduation in my apartment has been going on for months. BUT now we are just 17 days away from graduation. While that number is surreal and exciting, it’s also allowed me to reflect a lot on the last four years of my life. My college career has been very untraditional and a little more challenging than normal.
During my senior year of high school, I wanted nothing more than to come to Purdue and pursue a career in Agriculture. On acceptance day, I rushed home from my after-school job excited to open my acceptance letter. Little did I know that on the other side of that letter would be rejection, telling me I hadn’t been accepted. As an 18-year-old high school senior, my dreams were crushed. I had no other plans. At the time, I thought this was God’s was of redirecting my plans, so I enrolled in another university, studying something completely different. In the middle of July, I was at the required 2-day freshman orientation of my future university. Halfway through the first day of orientation, I looked at my mom and requested we leave because I didn’t want to be there. I can’t imagine what went through my mom’s mind at that very moment. If we left, I wouldn’t be permitted to start class there in August because I wouldn’t have completed my orientation. In that unsure moment, my mom’s support meant everything to be as we drove away from my college plans, again, with no plan for my future.
The next few days were filled with uncertainty as I set forth to pursue my Purdue dreams again. As a freshman, I enrolled in Ivy Tech in Lafayette, with plans to get my general education classes done before transferring into Purdue. For me, my denial from Purdue was no longer a failure, just redirection that allowed me to take one more step before achieving my ultimate dream. Heading into my sophomore year with my Associate’s Degree from Ivy Tech in hand, I was accepted to Purdue University where I decided on a degree in Agronomy. Once I got to Purdue however, things seemed to be anything but easy. I questioned if this was even what I wanted. There were many phone calls home of me considering quitting my education at Purdue and getting a job with my Associate’s degree. There isn’t a single thing wrong with that, it just wasn’t suited for my ultimate career goals. I can’t help but imagine how different life would be if I settled and didn’t push harder for my dreams. The pandemic uncertainties during my college time, mixed with being a transfer student during that time made things increasingly difficult in terms of involvement and making friends. Finally, I pushed past those challenges, developed friendships with the most supportive people who share my passions, became involved on campus, and could not be happier.
Today, 17 days from graduation, I look back SO proud of 18-year-old Sarah who pushed so hard to achieve her goals. I’m here today SO happy to be a Purdue Agronomy student and could not be more confident in my decisions. On the days your dreams don’t seem to be working out, keep pushing yourself. Don’t give up or settle for less when things don’t pan out like you thought. Hold true to the reason you started chasing your dreams. If you take time to reflect, you may realize that your challenges that seemed like failures at the time, may not be failures at all…just steppingstones to your ultimate success.