Is graduating from university a finish line or a starting line?

Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City showcasing the feeling every student has gone through. (Credit: Pinterest)

The time is approaching, the gunshot has been fired and the line has been crossed. 

Runners have begun the home stretch for their four-year-hundred-yard dash and are now approaching the finish line.  

Graduations are monumental moments, from middle school to high school and now, university.  

These moments become figments of a single day, representing years of hard work, mental breakdowns, figuring out who we are and using every single free trial we can get. 

Many of us think graduating is rewarding school work, but it is way more than that. The passerby does not know what the person next to them has gone through.  

Being in university is a four-year free trial in which you can make as many mistakes as you want and everything can still be okay.  

You learn who you are within friendships and relationships while also learning how to cook for yourself. It’s actually having to go and buy yourself ginger ale and chicken noodle soup when you're sick. It’s learning to be an adult, learning how to rely on yourself when times are hard.  

I couldn't help but wonder, is graduating from university a finish line or a starting line?  

I think it’s both. A time of reflection, a pat on the back for all the obstacles that were crossed and a lingering hope that when you start the race, you can keep running. 

A St. Thomas University alumnus from the class of 2025, Alberto Chávez said that  “Whether graduating is a finish line or starting line, you haven't even signed up for the race. There's not even a starting line.” 

“As liberal arts students, we have the understanding to change the world, yet we lack the technical skills to do the job,” Chávez said. “For us, graduation is just the foundation for a life of constant learning.”  

After graduating from university, Chávez enjoys the routine his new life has to offer. The clarity in knowing what his day-to-day will look like. The idealized 9 to 5 life.  

Even though he’s “new” to the all-day work life, he still reminisces on his social days filled with laughter, friendships and the occasional drink at The Cellar.  

“But it's nice to be able to make time for your friends, not only to look back at your time in university but also grow[ing] together in these new life stages. New jobs, new certificates, new challenges, it's a different type of fun.” 

“You are definitely not as resistant to alcohol and you definitely need to sleep for 8 hours … it's a different pace, but once you adapt to it, it's nice.” 

I think we take the narrative of entering the real world filled with office jobs that we deem suck the soul out of us isn't true.  

Human beings are learning mammals, constantly wanting to activate our hippocampus. Life doesn't end after university. It begins anew.  

As Chávez said, we have the foundational skills to build and curate the life we want. 

We are not contained to anyone anymore, fully and entirely on our own. A scary endeavor but a fun one.  

“You continue to learn, you will discover new hobbies, you will go through a lot of new changes and learn so much more about yourself. It's not even a race; you’re just trying to adapt to an ever-changing environment.”  

“So in case you feel like you're cooked or old, even though I have been told to a fault, it's not true, I am not ‘UNC’ status, yet,” said Chávez. “If you take life in your own hands, you're going to be good.”  

Maybe graduating is simply a water break in the marathon of life, a moment to catch our breath, smell the flowers around us, begin the stopwatch again and keep on running.

Make sure to double knot your laces. The future awaits.