The end/The beginning

So I graduate in 5 days, and then 2 days later I start nursing school for 15 months. I keep waiting for all of this to sink in. Maybe it will be when I've moved out of my apartment. Maybe it will be when I walk across the graduation stage. Or maybe it will be when I take my first test of nursing school. For France, it was the first morning that I woke up in La Rochelle, so I suppose maybe this will be similar. I'm really excited about nursing school, mostly because I feel ready to be a real adult by living on my own and working. I love working, and I don't really like school much. Learning new things is great, but it's the sitting in class all day and studying and tests that I hate. I wish I just knew everything automatically. That would be pretty cool. Then I probably wouldn't be a nurse, I would just go on Jeopardy every day for the rest of my life and be a bazillionaire. But I digress....

I'm going to miss a lot about Longwood. I'm for sure going to miss my apartment, walking everywhere, a lot of my teachers, and the friends that I've made. I literally can't believe I'm this old. I may have said this before, but I just can't view myself as older than about 16 years old. Maybe when I move out of my parents' house and pay big girl bills like for insurance and my cell phone I'll feel more adult.

A bachelor's degree is definitely something to be proud of, especially when I've gotten it in 4 years (which is harder for Longwood students than you would think), especially when its a biology degree. I can't believe I'm going off for more school and then maybe even more to go from RN to MSN. Considering I was one of those people right out of high school who was dreading 4 more years of classes in college, this is quite a change. I suppose that I'd rather do the damn thing and be happy and stable in my job the rest of my life than not.

The point is, while I still can't picture myself as older than 16, I have certainly changed. I guess the change was so gradual that I couldn't really notice it until a milestone such as this. It's funny. 10 years from now, I'll think that I was SO immature at 22.

So here I am... on a bridge between being an adult and a child. It sure feels like I've been here awhile, but I'm that much closer to crossing it. I absolutely can't wait. I believe that this is the beginning of the end of that bridge.