Seniors are often asked questions based around their own experiences as a student, like where they plan to use their knowledge and how.

With college coming to an end and a life-altering move possibly on the horizon, there is a tendency to become nostalgic and sentimental. This is probably what most seniors are currently experiencing.

The pace of the college replay quickens and is often accompanied by regret, as the senior remembers the few moments they wish they had seized: from asking a cute girl in class to coffee, to learning how to ski, to never walking on the frozen lake.

In this life built from a series of building blocks, we can create a stronger structure if we use each experience as an opportunity to learn. Clearly, we don’t have everything figured out, but we have built incredible experiences in the things we have accomplished and the things we have failed to accomplish.

This semester is coming to a rapid end. I know many of you will be nervously wringing your hands together as we step into “the real world” – the most annoying cliché – but I urge you to get out on your porch and crack a beer. Put those feet up and think about the first friend you made, every detail of your first dorm room. 

For me, it’s Peter Elmore playing “Levels” in reverse thinking it was the sickest thing he’d ever heard. It’s St. Patrick’s Day and Carly Rae Jepsen imitation videos – looking at you Taylor Fuess, Sarah Richardson, Ellery Garland and Danza Rodriguez. Move on to sophomore year and the bleak, dreary 4/20 where police officers actually arrested people on the redstone quad.

The beginning of college and the multitude of unbelievable memories and bonds we have created will last a lifetime. The next step in life will only offer more of the same bonds and experiences we have created at UVM.

Goodbye University of Vermont! Stay up and stay forever weird.