HAYLEY ROSS | OPINION COLUMNIST

Dear Seniors,

I cannot imagine what you must be feeling right now.

I am almost finished with my sophomore year, and I am panicking about the fact that college is halfway over for me.

The looming threat of leaving college behind and starting the real world hangs over me, and the stress has already begun.

What am I going to do? Am I going to make it big or am I going to fall short?

It is honestly scary to think about.

But you guys are there.

You are leaving. You are starting your crazy adult lives.

Yet when I look you all—some of my best friends—I am not stressed in the least.

Each one of you has achieved a greatness I only hope to be able to achieve by the time I graduate.

You are going to hear your name called at graduation, walk to take your diploma and then take a step into the next chapter of your life and journey. I am excited for you, excited to see the tremendous things life has in store.

I cannot believe another year has passed. A full year of college has gone by in the blink of an eye, yet so much has happened.

There have been new relationships, ends of relationships and newfound friendships.

There have been internship searches, job rejections and also job opportunities.

There have been issues with Greek life and parties and mass amounts of construction.

There has been happiness, sadness, anger, love and incredible amounts of fun.

I hope that each of you achieved the greatest amount of happiness possible this past year.

This letter is to show you all a little thanks and recognition. You have seen how easy it is to be forgotten, having seen three grades before yourself leave the Butler Bubble.

That is what life is. It continues almost tragically smoothly even after you leave. It seems cruel that Butler will continue to start construction projects they won’t finish, mess up class scheduling and breed psychotic squirrels after you have left.

So I want to assure you all that you have not gone unnoticed. You will not slip through the cracks.

Confidants. Role models. Life-long friends—I can confidently say that is what you have given me. I feel blessed to know so many of you, and I am incredibly sad you will be leaving.

It is disheartening to think about how many of you I rely on each day to calm me down, to show me friendship and, most importantly, to make me smile. It is more worrying to me that you will forget us than that we will forget you.

I hope you all can look at Butler as the first step in your journey instead of the last one before it can begin. If you look at it this way, I know when you tell your incredible success story, we will always be in your mind.

Thank you all for an incredible two years.

Continue to do the great things you are destined to do.

Words cannot fully describe how much you will be missed when you leave.

Warmest regards,

Hayley Ross