It’s hard to admit when a good thing has finished. Which is probably why it’s been so difficult the last several months to comprehend that my time with the University of Wisconsin as an undergraduate is ending. So, pardon me while I lock myself in my room and refuse to acknowledge the fact I graduate in less than two weeks.
Seriously, how did it come to this, where I have to say goodbye to something that has been such an instrumental part of forming who I am and what I’ve become? I’m not sure if I can do it, but I’ll try.
Like anybody who had only known one place his whole life, a sudden change in environment and setting yielded a fighting response from me. Madison was new, its people different and something unique I had never experienced before. I remember the day my parents dropped me off at Slichter Hall: I was sweaty, nervous and scared. My mom gave me a hug while visibly crying (I was her first-born), my dad shook my hand and my youngest brother told me I would make friends if I stopped being so sweaty.
At that moment, Madison was the opposite of home to me. Now, five years later, it’s the only place I want to be.
So what changed? Well, living in one place for five years might just do that to you. Then again, so will having a wonderful group of friends to call your own. Or maybe it’s the fact that I got older, a little wiser and now can finally grow facial hair.
College is equal parts education and growing up. Growing up pertains to doing your own laundry, making your own meals, cleaning up after yourself, being in charge of finances and above all, succeeding at the highest levels with only yourself as a motivating force. College makes you take personal account for your life and lets you decide what to make of yourself.
You can be lazy, lethargic and apathetic. Or, you can be motivated, driven and successful. The choice is, ultimately, yours and yours alone. Sometimes it takes a while for that choice to become apparent, for black and white to clarify and the haziness to become sharpened. For me, that came my second semester of junior year. And I haven’t looked back since.
In a way, college is like a competition – a sport, if you will, which is why I ended up loving the University of Wisconsin. It offers every opportunity in the world, where all that’s left to do is seize it. You get what you give, as they say.
Whether that comes from studying, practicing, networking or becoming involved, Wisconsin offers such a diverse array of options that you can find what you need and discover things you didn’t even know existed along the way. It makes you want to be great. The only part that’s left is individual mandate. How far will you go to better yourself? How much will you dedicate yourself to what you are passionate about?
Now that I finally do have the chance to look around as my life as a student winds down, I can’t tell you how immensely lucky I have been to not only have been at Wisconsin, but a member of The Badger Herald. Being a reporter brought me the connection with athletics that I had been missing since high school. Even though I don’t plan on continuing a career in journalism, it taught me valuable writing and people skills that I will use for the rest of my life.
They used to tell me to leave it all on the floor or the field before every basketball or football game my senior year, meaning don’t have any regrets. Think every game is your last.
Do I have any regrets? Every day. I regret that my time here is limited and this column is contained by a word count.
Let me just leave you with this.
Never give up on anything you want to accomplish. If someone says you can’t do it, smile and keep going. No matter what the obstacle, don’t lose faith – always persevere If things don’t go your way, focus on what you can do to change that. Look at what you can do to make you better and do it. That is what defines, in my mind, a champion.
It has been a pleasure, Wisconsin. Hopefully see you soon when I’m a law student. ON WISCONSIN!
Nick is a fith-year senior majoring in English and history. Email him at [email protected]
