Graduating and 20 Messages of Thanks for Getting Me To Convocation
By Niabi
“Keep in mind that it’s the journey and not the destination that counts.”
How fitting was it that on the last day of my undergrad, THIS was the fortune I got with my dinner?
Right now, everything feels normal, but at the same time, surreal. Different.
To be honest, reality hasn’t sunk in yet, and I’m not sure when it will. Maybe when my name is called in June at the convocation ceremony. Or the next time I have to shake off the feeling that there is something due tomorrow. It might happen when I stop building my social calendar around the student life cycle, or when my circle of friends shrinks because hanging out won’t be as easy as meeting up between classes.
I have been blessed with access to a post-secondary education, and the luxury of growing comfortable with my student status. But now, it’s time for a change. It’s time to get uncomfortable, to learn new lessons, through new experiences. Time to live life without the student discounts and benefits (yikes!). Time to be in charge of my own learning, to actively look for new ways to stretch my mind, instead of depending on a syllabus, a reading schedule, or class discussion to do that for me.
I just wrote the last academic paper of my undergraduate degree at the University Alberta. And now, you are reading my last article for YouAlberta — a blogging experience that I have been lucky enough to have participated in for the past 4 years. YouAlberta has been an outlet for me to think, reflect, and of course, to write. I am so thankful that I stumbled upon this opportunity to share the best things about our campus with you, and all that it has taught me over the years.
I feel like university has more than prepared me for whatever comes next. So, I’m going to use this, my final YouAlberta blog post, to thank all those who have been a part of the best six years of my life so far. Here it goes…
- Gracias to my Spanish professors, for serving as examples of patience, communication, and understanding!
- Thank you to all the authors of the articles, text books, and other readings that I was assigned, for exposing me to difficult realities, and to my professors, for showing me how to navigate these realities.
- Shout out to my activist friends, for showing me the value of using my voice, and standing-up for other people!
- Thanks Google Calendar, for showing me my potential for organization and discipline when life gets busy and stressful. I have a feeling we will meet again.
- Thank you Modern Languages and Cultural Studies, for taking my learning experience to another country and broadening my perspective.
- To my forever friends, who have shown me that family is more than blood relations — thank you!!!
- Thanks goes out to my new friends, who remind me that friendships are easy to come by, and that I will never be alone if I take the initiative to introduce myself to a stranger.
- Props to the Essays I’ve written, for helping me to feel confident, well-informed, and eloquent in expressing myself and what I stand for.
- [Read in a hushed whisper] Thank you Rutherford and Cameron Libraries, for giving me a quiet space, staples, and access to a plethora of mind-blowing knowledge.
- Much obliged Sociology 100, for teaching me that nothing is the way it seems on the surface. Everything is connected and there is always a bigger picture. I have carried this bit of knowledge with me ever since.
- My sincerest thanks to Amber and Laura, my supervisor and coordinator at Arts Work Experience, for being the support system I never knew I needed. For being my campus moms, showing me what true mentorship is, and raising my standards of what I expect from leaders and higher-ups in the workplace.
- Thanks class discussions, for teaching me how to appreciate difference, and to be open to it, even when it’s painful. For introducing me to new, and complex ideas that stretch my brain and force me to acknowledge and adopt a different perspective.
- All the best to the gym and Recreation Services, for introducing me to extracurriculars, and giving me the discipline and motivation I need to make wise decisions and lead live a healthy and happy life.
- To Hallie, my manager at YouAlberta, thank you for your constant support and patience, for always remembering my allergies, pushing me to improve my writing, and giving me the space to grow. I will miss you so much! [Editor’s note: I’ll miss you too!]
- Thank you to my volunteer experiences, for helping me recognize that people are always a priority, whether that is my family, my friends, or a complete stranger.
- Big thank you’s to the Career Centre, Keith, and the rest of the Career Centre staff, for your openness and support, for teaching me the true meaning of a healthy work-life balance, and what to do when life threatens this balance.
- Thank you to the Faculty of Arts and all it’s staff for embracing me with open arms, supporting my goals, and being my home on campus.
- To my classmates and coworkers, thank you for showing me that I am not alone in my opinion, losses, struggles, and wins.
- I owe my thanks to North campus, for providing me with work, volunteer, and networking opportunities that I never would have found anywhere else.
- THANK YOU to My sister, for being my best friend, go-to study buddy, and a willing second set of eyes when mine have stared at the same essay for 12+ hours (the night before it’s due of course)!
- And finally, to my parents, I’ll never be able to thank you enough for your endless love. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to make something of myself, for giving me the freedom to make my own mistakes and decisions, and for supporting me when I suffer the consequences. I could write a whole blog about the thank you’s I have for you.
University has been the opportunity of a lifetime, and even that is an understatement. Rather than saying goodbye to a period of my life that has meant so much to me, I will say thank you University of Alberta, for giving me the character I need to keep building, the brain I need to keep expanding, and the heart I need to keep loving. I will treasure these memories for the rest of my life.
