Featured image: (Photo by Gwendolyn Lyle)
I like sunsets, flowers and the way the leaves change color when fall comes around. I’ve been attending the University of Tennessee at Martin for three years. I’ve seen the sunset, the flowers bloom and the leaves change color three times — and I have to say, it is beautiful.
Within those three years, a lot has changed, and it’s not just the leaves. I switched from being an early education major to a communications major. I joined clubs and organizations. I made new friends. The saddest part about graduating is not being able to see the sunset after leaving a meeting.
Life moves fast, so fast that you forget to watch the sunset. It moves so fast that you don’t notice the flowers bloom or the leaves change color. Walking through the quad and taking it all in gives me a bit of peace. It lets me know that tomorrow will be different.
Tomorrow, whether that’s a date, place or time, I’ll never know. Tomorrow, I have an exam. Tomorrow, I have the day off. Tomorrow, I graduate. I graduate on May 2, 2026. I graduate tomorrow, which is crazy because I just started attending UTM yesterday, in the fall of 2023.
The faster graduation approaches, the more I have to think about what’s next, and honestly, I have no clue. I’ve been in school my whole life–this is all I’ve known. I suppose I can get a job as a teacher or a news anchor, or maybe I can own my own doggy daycare business. The opportunities are endless.
The opportunities were endless when I arrived at UTM. I could do anything. I could hammock all day or go swimming at night with friends. I could find all the rich neighborhoods and go trick-or-treating. Now, I’m 23, and somewhere along the way, I stopped going trick-or-treating. I stopped going for midnight swims and stopped hammocking.
Somewhere along the way, I learned not to wear my tennis shoes and socks in the rain–wear boots or sandals instead. I learned that I should never know what to expect from this world. I learned that power is not money, but knowledge.
Although I do not have a solid plan for after I graduate, I do have a solid plan for after I’m dead, gone and buried, and that is to be remembered for being a good and kind person. That is what I hope to leave at Martin and in life.
