* mock feature story *
Feature Story
Graduation: A Time for Goodbyes and Hellos
By KIRSTIE FLEGER
Staff Writer
April 22, 2015
BOONE, N.C. – As May rounds the corner, college students around Appalachian State University’s campus are gearing up for finals and looking forward to summer vacation. But for Appalachian’s seniors, May signifies an exciting and terrifying time in their life.
Graduation is a time when seniors say goodbye to the friends they spent almost every day together between class, intermural sports, and socials, and say hello to life as an adult. There is a lot of mixed emotion that floats around during this time of year whether its seniors stressing to finish their final exams or parents crying because their child is all grown up. Either way, graduation certainly brings a buzz to a college campus that hardly goes unnoticed.
First and foremost, what is going through senior’s minds most notably is the fact that they have to finish all of their final exams and portfolios before they can actually graduate. For some, exams are a walk in the park. These seniors can enjoy those last sweet spring days of college before they enter the adult world. On the other hand, the majority of seniors find themselves putting in long hours in the library or drinking several cups of coffee a day to just get through finals. In the end, both types have a day or two just before they walk across the stage as a time to reflect on their college years.
For some seniors, starting a new chapter in their life is exciting and fitting as they feel like they are ready to take on a new life. “Graduation is the day I have been excited for yet dreading since I started at App freshman year,” said Courtney Craft, a nursing major. “It’s a day I always thought would feel so scary but now that it is here it feels very natural, like it is time for me to start the next chapter.”
Craft isn’t alone in her thoughts about starting a new chapter in her life. Graduating means seniors can take what they learned in their undergraduate classes and dive into their passions and interests fully prepared for what is to come. It is their time to travel the world, experience new things and become immersed in new knowledge.
But for others, graduating means having to say a difficult goodbye to the close friends made throughout four years. Morgan Fancher, a communication studies major, said, “I’m scared to death of graduating because I am not ready to let go of all of the amazing friends I have made here. I hope the friendships I have made are true and last a life time no matter the distance.”
Like Fancher, most seniors find themselves in a crossroads between wanting to start something new and not wanting to leave their friends.
In the end though, as seniors approach May and have time to reflect upon their years at Appalachian, they are filled with sweet memories, happy moments in time with friends, and a sense of fulfillment from how they have grown. These emotions truly characterize what a senior experiences throughout their years in this college town and most leave with the promise to stay close to friends and continue to visit the place they hold close to their heart.
Amber Miller, a nutrition major, puts it simply, “You know you have had a good experience somewhere when you can look back at memories, mistakes and experiences and smile, laugh or cry at any of them. That is the true definition of an impactful moment and I can say I have had one here at App. This time of the year is truly when that moment and all of those emotions sink in.”