What’s on the 10-day forecast, you ask? My college graduation.

Almost ceremoniously, my backpack ripped this week. It was a cry for help – telling me it’s ready to stop carrying books, notebooks and assignments. And I completely agree. I’m ready to take the weight off my back and do away with textbooks.

I’m ready for a new chapter. Not a new start, but a new piece to the puzzle.

God has been preparing me for this. He’s been changing my worries into excitement, my plans into a purpose.

Most recently, I’ve seen how God was developing me for life after college: homework. It sounds like the craziest thing, but God knew I needed the push to release my grip from this university. I have been loving my classes, well most of them. I love writing articles instead of taking tests. I love practicing my interviewing skills rather than taking citation lessons.

For two semesters now, I have accepted my career-path change with motivation for the future.

And a month ago, just about the time I started thinking of all the “lasts” I’ll experience, homework became my downfall. I despised the way professors were making me, a 22-year-old student, write a summary of a chapter to prove I had read the required number of pages. I dreaded the petty assignments that held up only as busy work.

While these weren’t exactly new emotions since being a student, they were new in this field of fun technology, events and professors.

Little by little, I became okay with these feelings. They were helping me say goodbye to the town and school that has become my home.

In a few short days I’ll walk proudly across the stage. It will not only signify the end of my college career, but also the growth I’ve had throughout these four years. I can walk tall, knowing and thanking this college for the ways it has forced me to mature in ways I never knew existed.

I can walk tall – without tripping.