When I stepped onto campus four years ago, I had no idea what would come of my time at Gannon. I had no idea who I would become, who I would meet, what I would do here. I was nervous and excited, but ready to start on this grand adventure.

Now, I look back at that first semester of college fondly. Like most everyone else, I probably didn’t make the best decisions, but I can say that I am proud of the things that I did and the friends I made. A lot of those friends are still my friends to this day and will stay my friends for a long time. Some of them aren’t my friends anymore, but that’s okay too. We all grew up and changed over four years.

In my opinion, that’s the real point of college. Not that learning and developing a career aren’t important, but college is an opportunity to fail without major consequences. It’s a chance for you to make mistakes and learn from them. You make friends, lose friends, have lasting or short relationships with people and grow up over the course of four years. College provides a safe place for you to live and grow with people your age who are doing the same thing. No one can judge you at this point, because they don’t know how to live yet either.

I’ve had my share of successes and failures over the last four years, thankfully nothing major in the failure category, but every experience has taught me something. I’ve gained an expanded view of the world, a better understanding of my fellow human beings and realized that one bad day isn’t something that will ruin an entire life. (Post-college Sarah is a lot more Zen than pre-college Sarah was. I think I’ve calmed down a lot. My friends from high school would agree.)

Now that I’m getting ready to graduate, I’m starting to feel the nervousness and excitement that I felt as a freshman again. Like some of my fellow seniors, I’m heading on to graduate school, and will be attending New York University’s Steinhardt School. It’s actually a dream come true and I can’t wait to start! Starting grad school and moving to a whole new city, especially one as big as NYC, have their own set of challenges, but I’m confident now that I can take on whatever comes my way. Gannon has taught me a lot about who I am and how much I can handle, although I’m nervous, I’m not really scared of the future.

I want to take this last opportunity to thank you, lovely Edge readers, for keeping up with my adventures over the last four years. Thanks for all your support from the other side of your computer screen. I want to say thank you to everyone who was ever on staff here—you’ve made this experience one that I will remember for the rest of my life. My experience at Gannon has been amazing, partly because of my time here at Edge.

If you’re a Gannon student reading this, I want you to make the most of your chances here. Don’t be afraid to try something new or step outside your comfort zone. There are amazing people and opportunities here if you look for them. I wish you all the best!