Fairytale
So this? This is what happily ever after looks like. It’s that electric excitement that you can feel in the tips of your fingers, that makes you wish you could bottle this moment up and keep it in a glass jar for the rest of your life. These are the moments I wish I could look at forever, gazing out at a sea of mortarboards and tassels, looking over my right shoulder to see my family beaming back at me, while everyone pretends they are concentrating on the dignified college officials and professors sitting on the stage. I’m bordering on giddy excitement, laughing and crying and cheering and I’m practically in complete disbelief- is this it? This is the end of college? Is this genuinely happy, perfect moment about to signify the end of the best four years of my life? The second I move my tassel, does that mean that my time at the only school I’ve ever been proud of has come to an end? There’s another flash of disbelief, and one of fear... will anyone remember what I’ve done here? Who I started as, and who I am leaving as? Now there’s a frightening thought.
Amongst all this joy and elation the very small child inside of me is scared of that big, bad, jobless world out there. This rather sinking sense of disbelief distracts me momentarily, and in my mind’s eye I can see the last four years literally flash by in a whirlwind blur... I can see the jaded, sarcastic, spiteful little girl crying in the car on the way to orientation (that I didn't want to go to), crying in the car on the way to move in (even though I refused to do such a ridiculous thing), crying when my mom left (the thought still brings stinging tears to my eyes), crying with my roommate (who ended up becoming my best friend), very slowly finding my niche, joining club (after club, after club, after club...), moving out, moving in, moving out, signing a lease, living with a roommate (whom I sometimes wanted to strangle)... Falling in love, losing my dad, getting sick, falling more in love, abruptly being dumped out of love, finding the friends that I will spend the rest of my life with, spending every one of the last sixteen days of college laughing, crying, partying, and staying up all night...
They’ve all brought me here, to this theatre with its pretty lights and illustrious grandeur, so that I can hear my name called out, summa cum laude, shake hands with Brother Liguori, and know that I have made my mark on this world, that I have made a difference. But most importantly? I have found me. And for that, I’ll let the tears of happiness run down my cheeks (thank goodness for waterproof mascara).
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License. This work may be reproduced with permission from the author, and you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any use of this work must be attributed to the author, Kathryn Malara. The above text is original work and is protected as such. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
Amongst all this joy and elation the very small child inside of me is scared of that big, bad, jobless world out there. This rather sinking sense of disbelief distracts me momentarily, and in my mind’s eye I can see the last four years literally flash by in a whirlwind blur... I can see the jaded, sarcastic, spiteful little girl crying in the car on the way to orientation (that I didn't want to go to), crying in the car on the way to move in (even though I refused to do such a ridiculous thing), crying when my mom left (the thought still brings stinging tears to my eyes), crying with my roommate (who ended up becoming my best friend), very slowly finding my niche, joining club (after club, after club, after club...), moving out, moving in, moving out, signing a lease, living with a roommate (whom I sometimes wanted to strangle)... Falling in love, losing my dad, getting sick, falling more in love, abruptly being dumped out of love, finding the friends that I will spend the rest of my life with, spending every one of the last sixteen days of college laughing, crying, partying, and staying up all night...
They’ve all brought me here, to this theatre with its pretty lights and illustrious grandeur, so that I can hear my name called out, summa cum laude, shake hands with Brother Liguori, and know that I have made my mark on this world, that I have made a difference. But most importantly? I have found me. And for that, I’ll let the tears of happiness run down my cheeks (thank goodness for waterproof mascara).
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This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License. This work may be reproduced with permission from the author, and you may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any use of this work must be attributed to the author, Kathryn Malara. The above text is original work and is protected as such. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/
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