I graduated college, I actually did it.
Four years gone by just like that. Four years I will never forget. Four years of self-improvement, incredible moments, and friends that I wouldn't trade in for the world.
The question I have been getting the most the last couple days has been "Are you afraid to graduate?"
To be honest with you, no I'm not. I am not afraid of the world that's out there ahead of me. I don't say that to come off as arrogant, but I just have always had the mindset that no matter what situation is presented to me, I will not be out-worked. I am ready for the challenges, the late nights, and even the hardships headed my way.
Besides the fact that I am now a college graduate, what else changes?
Nothing...nothing changes at all.
Why be afraid? The world is ours. There is literally nothing that you can't do. No one in this world should intimidate you away from your dreams. Not one person on this planet is less capable than another. The thing that makes someone capable of achieving their dreams is the inner-drive within you that lets you know that you deserve the best there is.
I just have to keep moving forward. "Keep moving forward" is, and forever will be my mantra. My favorite words ever spoken are from Rocky Balboa himself when he proclaimed "It ain't about how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done."
I have been hit hard many more times then I could count, and I got back up each and every time. I love to get hit, because I love to prove it to myself that no punch is hard enough to keep me down.
My time in college is one I will always treasure, but it is now time for me to take what I've learned and use it to help better the world around me.
A lot may be headed my way, but no fight will be tougher than the fight I have against myself everyday.
To all those college students who are now alumni. Don't be afraid, just keep moving forward. I know you are nervous about leaving the comfort zone that college has been for you, but you shouldn't be. The reason you shouldn't be is because like I said in my commencement speech...
"Don't be afraid that this is a part of your past now, because even though you have to keep moving forward, you can't move forward without having a part of where you've been follow you on your journey there."-Jake Kosack
So yes, I am sad that my time in college is over. The present times I had there are now forever embedded in my mind as memories. But it's time for me to now become the best I can be, and the same goes for all of you.
Just keep moving forward, because I have not once met a single person who has been able to stop a person who just keeps moving forward.