Quick fact about me: I love making lists. What’s on my current to-do list?

– Graduation cap and gown
– Graduation announcements
– Senior Thesis Research paper
– Find a job

How fulfilling it is to cross items off a list. The scary part of this is that the items on my list are all final preparations to leave Gannon University.

Gannon prepared me well to communicate with others, and there are countless lessons I have learned and will keep close to me as I move forward into my career. What I’m not prepared for is the anxiety that graduation stirs up.

The memories that I have suppressed from the past four years have found their way to the forefront of my mind within the last two weeks. I sit back and recall all of the friendships I have gained, mistakes I have made, successes I have relished in and all of the ones who have individually made an impact on my life.

The other day, I found in my collection of Schuster Theatre programs a card that my friend Lisa Ripper made for me. We used to call them “Lisa’s opening night greetings.” She would custom-make a card for every show I was in and leave a silly cartoon on the inside just to make me smile and know she was thinking of me as I opened a new show. Little things like that always made me smile and are the things that I will cherish.

As I was finishing up my professional portfolio for my senior seminar and thesis class, I realized that I accomplished a lot in four short years. With over twenty shows under my belt, three years of radio work and several term papers compiled into one black binder, I can honestly say that I don’t regret a thing.

I have many people to thank for keeping me on my toes and guiding me in the right direction to get me to this moment in my life. There is never enough space to thank all those who I need to thank. Thank you to all of the special individuals in my life who have supported me, guided me and shared all of those special moments with me in the past four years… you all know who you are! Special thanks to all of you who have kept up with my crazy antics this year by reading my blog. Following the life of one theatre student can be a trip, wouldn’t you say?

Good luck to all of you graduating seniors. May your future endeavors be exciting, and may you love what you do, just as I love what I do.

AJ Miceli, theatre, communication & fine arts department chair, always tells us one thing as we leave class. So as I leave Edge, I leave you with the same wish: “May your days be merry and bright.”

Adios,

-K