For the past three years, my roommate has used one of those dry-erase white board calendars to keep track of her deadlines and events. She wipes it down and remakes it on the first day of every month. Last week, she replaced “April” with “May” at the top and started to write in the numbers for the dates, but stopped at 17. “Graduation day,” she wrote underneath it. There’s nothing else after it. The entire calendar is blank after May 17th. 

Four years comes to an end just like that. 

I know I’m not the only one who’s been to hell and back these last four years. Probably multiple times. This was never a walk in the park. Hard classes, losing friends, homesickness, future doubts… We’ve all hit low points. 

Without the struggle, there would be no story. Despite it all, we made it to the end, and we’re all hopefully better for it. On May 17th, the last day on the calendar, we get to walk across the stage and step into a new chapter, turning our time as undergraduates at RWU into memories. 

What goes on after that is up to you. I hope nothing but the best for each and every person graduating this year, and I hope you’re proud of all you’ve accomplished and stand tall as you walk down your new path. 

But it’s not over yet. When this comes out, we’ll have just over a week until we wake up on our last day of college. Like I said at the beginning of the year, take what time we have left and soak it up to the best of your ability. Romanticize your life. There are a few more Colt sunsets, a lot more late night laughs, and maybe even some new friends to be made before we go. Enjoy every second of it. Even your finals – you’re gonna miss studying for a test when you’re out in the real world doing… real people things, I guess. Whatever it is that you do. 

Finals aside, I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned in the last four years, inside and outside of the classrooms. I’m grateful for everyone I’ve met, no matter how brief, and for everything I’ve done, no matter how stressful. 

I suppose this is me signing off for the last time and stepping down as Editor-in-Chief. That’s probably why I’m stalling. I don’t really want to leave, as much as I tell people I do. I miss all the beautiful chaos of it all already. 

It’s time to let go. Good luck out there, y’all. And don’t trip on stage, that would be kind of anticlimactic. 

All my love, 

Emily/Ero Rosen, Former Hawks’ Herald Editor-in-Chief