Saying Goodbye to Purdue

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Posted on May 22, 2014 by Jessica Callinan

Writing this blog post I can still hardly believe that I have graduated from the greatest university on the planet. It seems like just yesterday I was packing my car to drive to West Lafayette, Indiana and start my journey as a Boilermaker. 
Everyone told me when I graduated high school that the next four years would fly by, and I brushed this off, thinking that there was no possible way that four years in college would go by fast. Looking back now, it feels like I just started, and I can hardly remember that it has been four years. Every moment has blended together and there are too many memories to count. I can't even imagine not moving back to Purdue next fall.
Graduation is one of the most exciting times of your life. Unlike high school graduation, college graduation is a huge step in your life. The transition from college to the professional world is unlike any other transition in life. You go from having classes, hanging out with friends, staying up until who knows when laughing with your roommates, and just having fun to a new, grown up, professional world. It is an exhilarating and exciting transition, with changes around every corner. 
However, graduation of Purdue is unlike no other. It is full of tradition, pride, and excitement. Every graduation is giddy with the anticipation of walking across the stage to receive a degree that declares their achievements throughout the college career. As an engineer, the procession around the engineering fountain feels like the start of the rest of your life, leaving the place you learned to show off everything you know. Elliott Hall of Music is full of family, friends, and faculty, all glowing with pride for us, the graduates, and our accomplishments. The ceremony itself is special, making you feel proud as a member of the Purdue family but also as an individual for all you have achieved. Walking across the stage I could hardly contain my enthusiasm. As I grabbed my diploma and shook hands with the AAE department head and Dean of Engineering, I beamed with pride knowing that the past four years had paid off, and I was a Purdue University Engineering graduate. I walked to the end of the stage, looked out to the crowd with a smile on my face, made sure not to fall down the stairs on the way back to my seat, and finally sat down to open my diploma and see the  greatest accomplishment of my life thus far.
As bittersweet as it is to leave Purdue, it is an exciting start to something new. Purdue will always be my home, the place where I received my engineering degree, where I met my best friends, and where I made memories that I know I could never forget. I know that I will be ever grateful, ever true, and use everything Purdue taught me for the rest of my life. 

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