As graduating seniors approach their last semester, many look back on their journey’s ups and downs. The transformative nature of college provides endless opportunities for growth and change, often leading to a list of life lessons learned—though, sometimes learned the hard way. During this transition between college life and career, it’s important to recount these lessons and memories made in order to properly reflect. In reflecting, three graduating students—Duygu, Maddie and Savannah—shared their stories with The Pace Press. Despite their unique life experiences, including differences in majors, extracurriculars and the distances they traveled for college, all three arrived at similar takeaways.
In interviewing Maddie Whisler, a Communications and Media Studies major with a minor in Digital Journalism and Storytelling, she emphasized the importance of embracing change. Moving from suburban Massachusetts to the fast-paced environment of New York City, she was understandably overwhelmed at first.
While trying to adapt to this new environment, she quickly realized the challenge of balancing it with a brand-new academic schedule. She described this difficulty: “The city, the academics and the rigorous schedule were just not as fun as I imagined.” This colossal life shift caused her to overthink and not live in the moment. As a senior, she now feels some regret that she did not allow herself to live in the moment more.
“Instead of embracing those hard moments and recognizing them as part of the experience, I just wanted to be in the future,” Whisler said.
Now, as a senior, Whisler can look back on her college experience and detail what helped her overcome those tough times and create the wonderful memories she holds today.
In recounting what made her college experience, she described her social journey. From meeting some of her best friends during her freshman year to joining a sorority during her junior year, she was able to get through some of her tough times with the people around her. When asked what she would advise incoming freshmen, she said that though you may not like everyone you meet, putting yourself out there is the most important part.
Pinpointing what parts of college made her who she is today, Whisler stated that her friendships made her grow. As she put it, “Everyone focuses on academics, but you really learn how to communicate and navigate relationships.”
Though college is filled with both bad and good experiences, she believes that those experiences and the people she met throughout the ride shaped her.
Duygu Kondakci will graduate with a double major in Psychology and Sociology/Anthropology in the spring. In our interview, she recounted moments in which she made the most of her opportunities. A Brooklyn native, Kondakci decided to live on campus her freshman year but has commuted since then. She considers the choice to transition into college life first through dorms deeply valuable. Having that foundation of friendships on campus allowed her to evolve from there.
As a commuter, she made it a priority to stay involved through extracurriculars and campus jobs. In her involvement with the Psychology Club, Psi Chi and her campus job, she said it was both a social and an academic choice. On the social end, Kondakci stated, “I think joining clubs and having campus jobs made me feel more involved—it kind of combatted that commuter-like isolation that some people feel.”
Through her academic and career involvement with on-campus activities, she described being incredibly grateful to make connections that have followed her into her career expeditions. She would advise incoming freshmen to dive in in the same way.
When asked if she would have done anything differently, Kondakci said she would have regretted missing out on studying abroad. Although she hadn’t expected to study abroad initially, she realized it was a chance to gain a broader perspective beyond New York City.
Though she recounts her gradual growth from freshman to senior year, she stated that studying abroad gave her her favorite and most formative college memories. Moving into post-graduation, she simply couldn’t be more grateful that she took advantage of all the possible opportunities.
Lastly, senior Savannah Ford, an English major with a French minor, will graduate this year. She began college as a Health Sciences major, but halfway through her freshman year, she realized she didn’t want to continue down that path.
Influenced by external pressures, Ford chose the major despite her own uncertainties. While she struggled with this challenging academic transition, she felt overwhelmed. Traveling all the way from San Diego for college, she felt lost as she dealt with culture shock, academic uncertainty and the lack of a solid friend group, making her early college years especially difficult.
Now, looking back, she thinks of the struggle as a life lesson itself.
“It was really transformative, as cliché as that sounds, but it’s true—and I think that struggle helped shape who I am now,” Ford said.
Though dealing with the stress and the struggle in the present may not be easy, Ford feels that she wouldn’t be who she is today without it.
While finding her passions at college, Ford stated that the University’s extracurriculars helped her find herself. Though she wishes she had been able to find these communities sooner, Ford proudly told me that she felt like she belonged in her club communities. As the president of Aphros Literary Magazine and a member of both The Pace Press and the dance club, Ford advises incoming freshmen to explore their own community. She expressed that these clubs allow her to feel more grounded.
During our conversation about regrets, Ford said she felt happy to have those experiences rather than regret them. She wished she hadn’t stressed so much in the moment, saying, “You just have to ride out the uncertainty and trust that you’ll end up where you need to be eventually.”
Allowing uncertainty to dictate her growth, Ford is able to look back on her past mistakes without judgment or shame; instead, she knows they were all part of her learning process.
While Maddie Whisler, Duygu Kondakci and Savannah Ford had varying college experiences, all three students expressed strikingly similar lessons. Learning from hard moments, all three have chosen to embrace their struggles rather than ignore them. Though they’ve experienced significant personal growth in the past four years, all three understood this is only the beginning. All three students spoke about finding their community through various clubs and opportunities on campus. Whisler, in particular, emphasized that people we meet in college shape us just as much—if not more—than academics do. As these students reflect on the finish line of college, their lack of regret suggests that the best way to navigate this journey is by living in the moment and trusting the process. These seniors will graduate with not just a degree, but a list of stories and experiences that have prepared them to continue growing confidently.
