KYLE M. JOHNSON
STAFF WRITER

Class of 2012:

Today, I feel that I am justified in using the phrase, “We did it!” While it is cliché and overused, the fact is that we have graduated from college, and for that we can be proud of ourselves. We did it!

“It,” however, is not just the solitary act of graduating; “it” refers to every individual act that it took to get to this point.

“It” is the incredible amount of hours spent in the classroom, and the even more incredible amount of hours invested in schoolwork conducted at home, in the library, in between work shifts, everywhere imaginable.

“It” refers to the struggle to find the necessary classes in specific time slots to fit your schedule.

“It” refers to the tuition increases, which took place even after you had already paid off your semester fees.

“It” refers to paying seemingly ludicrous amounts for a parking permit, even on semesters when you only attended class two days a week.

“It” refers to overpriced textbooks.

“It” refers to showing up to class, only to realize that you didn’t check your email where your professor reported that he or she wouldn’t be coming to class.

“It” refers to showing up to class when the professor didn’t even send out an email to say he or she wouldn’t be in class.

“It” refers to the fact that attending a school built on a hill requires the ascension up countless flights of stairs of varying length and steepness. (However, we now possess defined, youthful calves to show for it.)

“It” refers to the dreaded midterms, finals and exams, for all classes, which all seemed to conveniently take place during the same respective week.

But, “it” was not all bad.

“It” was that sense of accomplishment as you witnessed your Academic Requirement Report gradually filling up, semester after semester.

“It” was feeling touched by a professor’s desire for you to learn.

“It” was that sense of understanding gained regarding your purpose in the classroom.

“It” was those people you met, grew close to and endured alongside in the classroom.“It” was checking your report card to find passing grades.

“It” was learning alternate routes through campus to avoid those asking, “Are you registered to vote?” (By the way, if you’re not registered, visit sos.ca.gov)

“It” was having a professor who posted on Cougar Courses as many excerpts from the textbooks as they legally could.

“It” was all of these things; a combination of moments that contributed towards your feelings of stress and anxiety, but also accomplishment; feelings of doubt and hesitancy, but also purpose.

And here we are, with something to show for it, something for which we can be proud.

At the end of my junior year, I wrote an essay for myself, entitled, “The Best Years of Someone Else’s Life.” It chronicled my college experience up until that point, and questioned the frequent claim made by some referring to college as the best years of their life. I hadn’t felt that and I wondered why.

Was it because I spent three years at a community college before transferring? Was it because I wasn’t involved in any clubs or fraternities? Was it because I commuted to school? Was it because the school itself had been labeled a commuter school? All these questions and more led to my further curiosity and I summed up the essay with the conclusion that maybe what I needed was to get involved; meet more people, attend school functions, anything that could contribute towards the so-called “college experience.”

At the start of my senior year, I began writing for the student newspaper. It was during my run as a volunteer staff writer for the paper that I began to feel a sense of purpose at school. I invested more of my time into making deadlines than I invested in my classwork. And somehow, my grades rose significantly. I felt productive for the first time in a really long time.

It made me feel good about myself by instilling within me a step towards finding out why people call college “the best years of their life.” I began to imagine the potential of the experience, had I began that kind of involvement upon first entering campus. I imagined it would’ve been a drastically different experience.

If there is anyone reading this who is feeling discouraged from the college life for any reason, I can confidently say that you can find motivation in putting yourself out there to tackle such and similar endeavors.

Motivation is a necessary ingredient to pursue a college degree. Without motivation, you have no desire. Without desire, you have apathy or less. And with that, you cannot accomplish much.

You can apply that same theory to life after college. Whether it is in graduate school, finding a job or taking the time to explore the world around you, you must be motivated.

This graduation, while it has felt like a long time coming, is just the beginning. Now we must set out into the dark and scary world. But it doesn’t have to be ominous and foreboding.

As a lover of film, I tend to reference movies frequently. So, I’ll leave you with this quote said by James Dean’s character in “Rebel without a Cause:”

“Life can be beautiful.”

Set out and do your best to make it that. In us is the ability to conquer and restore the world.