Well, that went by quickly, didn’t it?

Without being too cliché, the past four years have been quite the rollercoaster ride. Ups and downs, laughter and nervous breakdowns, inspiration and triumph, and everything in-between, the time has come to step into the adult world and I am most certainly not ready for it.

I remember driving to campus on my first day in September 2013 – I was so nervous. My life was changing. New scenery, new friends, new experiences…I only had one choice and that was to adapt to all the new things that were coming my way.  I can honestly tell you this, I wasn’t excited. I remember thinking to myself, “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”

I turned up the music in my car and let Dreams by Fleetwood Mac flow into the space and into my brain to distract me from the nerves. Now here you go again / You say you want your freedom / Well, who am I to keep you down? / It’s only right that you should / Play the way you feel it…and that’s what I did for the past four years here – I played the way I felt it.

I know you’re probably rolling your eyes now. Wow, a couple of lyrics from a Fleetwood Mac song inspired her to change her tune (pun intended) about the journey she was about to endure? Original! Likely! I am now inspired! Think what you want, that lyric was the foundation for how I navigated my time here.

Whatever I felt was right in the moment, I went along with it. I will acknowledge that it didn’t always lead me in the right direction. Sometimes, I just felt like staying home instead of hanging around campus with friends. Sometimes, I just felt like it was right to save a 10-page paper until the night before it was due. Most of the time, it worked out for me. It led me to find my passion for writing, which I really didn’t discover until junior year (special thanks to Perrota and Kevin Czerwinski for that). That eventually led me here – to The Pace Chronicle. My writing abilities grew while being the Health and Beauty Editor of this publication and I am truly honored to have been a part of it.

It’s laughable how quickly I went from having to drag myself to school everyday to now wanting to be here so I can savor my final days with some of the best people I have ever met. I know that I have made some friends for life here (@ Janine Jones, Rachel Krawsek, Michelle Ricciardi, and even my day one Robert Marino).

I have to thank my best friend in the entire world, Swells, for being the best friend in the entire world. She doesn’t go here, but after all of the stories I have told her about this place, she basically does.

The last person I need to mention is probably the most important person throughout my college career – Ann Marie McGlynn. It doesn’t feel right calling her my academic adviser because she was my biggest fan and go-to person. She encouraged and supported me in everything I did during my time here and I can’t thank her enough for keeping me sane.

Lastly, I want to thank my parents for their unwavering support, giving me the opportunity to receive an education, and for literally everything else. I owe the world to them. (Also my dog for being the best dog.)

And now that I’ve turned this Senior Goodbye into an acceptance speech, I’ll leave you with this inspirational quote by the great Canadian philosopher and life coach, Aubrey Graham.

“More life, more everything.”

Your Former Health and Beauty Editor,

Jenna Febbo