“Knock,knock!”
“Who is there?”
“Your final year of college.”
Where is the punch line, you ask? There isn’t any, my friend. Because believe me, when the third year of college comes knocking at your door, it is no joke.
The last two semesters of college are an emotional roller-coaster ride, where your life will constantly swivel among emotions of joy, anxiety, ambition, depression and nostalgia. These emotions will be felt at varying intensities at different stages, thereby dividing your last year of college into the following four phases:
PHASE 1: NOSTALGIA and DEPRESSION
When you start your fifth semester, the realisation of being a senior and having just one more year of college to look forward to dawns on you, sending you into a mood of reminiscence. You start looking at every aspect of college through the memories you’ve lived by it. So every nook and cranny will remind you of a beautiful moment, etched in your mind for eternity. The canteen will bring to mind those joyous moments spent bunking lectures; old professors met near the staff room will remind you of boring/interesting lectures; the sports field will remind you of the fun-filled fest season and so on. Waking up to the fact that time has literally flown by and that you have just one more year to relish college life, will, send you into a downward spiral of depression.
PHASE 2: SELF-DOUBT and ANXIETY
Even before you can nurse yourself from the depression, you’ll be handed yet another blow, this time on the academic and professional front. Suddenly, everyone you meet will ask you just one question: what next? Most of us have no clue. And before you know it, you’re swimming in the deep, dark sea of consternation.
PHASE 3: AMBITION and DRIVE
You’re half-way there now, and start gaining some sort of clarity about the future. This lucidity is further encouraged by college placements. As you sit for multiple companies and profiles, your motivational drive gets a good boost. You feel this sense of maturity, a feeling and realisation that you’re all grown up now and must shortly set foot into the big, bad world. This phase does wonders to your self-esteem and confidence. In a way, your curve begins to peak.
PHASE 4: BITTER SWEET JOY
You can see the finish line. By now, you’ve either got a job in hand, or have cleared entrances to fortify your higher education opportunity. All the fests are over. Your farewell is coming up and after that, you will take the last set of collegiate exams. Now is when you begin to experience a bitter sweet joy. Bitter, for all that you’re going to leave behind; yet pleasantly sweet because you’re about to enter another stage in your life.
Finally, as you bid adieu to college life, you hark back to the three wonderful years that have gone by. These years, as they say, may never come back. Yet, to have them safely and securely placed in a precious corner of your mind, heart and soul, is in itself, beautiful and cherish-worthy.
Image credits: collegecandy.com
Kriti Sharma
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