By Becca Benfield |Coyote Contributor|
“Come here, Go anywhere”
Standing up to walk across the stage at the Coussoulis Arena means something different for each student.
For some, it is a way to bring their family pride. For others, it brings deep relief to their pockets; they finally made it. And then there are those who will walk across that stage thinking the college party is not quite over.
For me the “party” is still alive. Yes, today I walk across the stage changing my title from undergraduate to graduate but really, this is simply the P!NK “Get this party started” song that kicks off the night.
Don’t get me wrong, this does not mean that graduating with a Bachelor’s degree is not a strong accomplishment; it just means that there is still the real world in which every graduate today will join and there are still plenty of challenges left to face.
Today is a stepping-stone towards my continued academic success. However, many hurdles as a future teacher stand in my way.
To receive a teaching credential, I must pass the CSET, RICA and GRE. This also includes multiple applications and, hopefully, admissions to graduate schools. And, for me that’s on top of taking on becoming a wife and soon a mother.
Our window of opportunity is so small; we have to take advantage of it while we can. And as I sit back and think about the day I started college, I was fresh meat, straight out of high school and didn’t necessarily seize those opportunities.
I had no direction about where to go and who to be. But six years later, life is so much different and by “coming here,” CSUSB has prepared me, and us, to “go anywhere.” We are now ready to bring all our knowledge and pride out to the world and make ourselves great.
The challenge for me was to prove to myself that if I can be successful in our current environment, where class sizes are constantly increasing and harder to get into and tuition has cleaned out my wallet. But I have done it and now I believe I can virtually do anything I set my mind on.
So as Dr. Karnig speaks for his last time as president at CSUSB, we celebrate the gift we have earned: the right to shake his hand in the middle of that stage and boast at our accomplishment.
We can celebrate the amazing things we have done and are going to do for our future. And tomorrow, when the party is over, I will begin to sing Asher Roth’s tune, “Man, I love college…”