As the school year comes to an end, most students scramble to figure out roommates and classes for the next semester. However, SNU seniors spend this final semester savoring every moment. With graduation just weeks away, seniors on campus are spending these last weeks differently than their fellow students. As their college experience comes to an end and their future begins, SNU seniors Bethany Crouch, Gracee Rash, Connor Padgett and Kenzie Faulk reflect on the past four years.
There is a strange feeling that settles in as senior year comes to an end, somewhere between excitement and disbelief. It shows up in small moments. For Gracee Rash, it was realizing she was not included in department emails anymore. “I’m like, wow, I really won’t be here,” she said. For Connor Padgett, it hit after his final musical performance. “I was like, okay…I’ve got like two months left…here it comes.”
For others, the realization sneaks in during class. Kenzie Faulk felt it while learning her last choir pieces. “It sometimes hits the heart,” she said. These moments are little reminders that something meaningful is coming to an end.
Looking back, none of them are quite the same as when they first arrived. Rash points to the way her faith has grown and shaped her college experience, saying it has made her “more loving and patient with people.” Faulk notes her growth in the social aspect: “I’ve become more social and more confident.” Even Bethany Crouch laughs at how much she has changed since day one, starting with the fact that she began school with a shaved head and is leaving having found herself in the community.
Padgett reflects on his freshman year, stating, “I had no clue what to expect.” But over time, he discovered something he did not anticipate: enjoyment. “You take classes you actually want…you’re doing what you love.” Crouch had a similar experience. She expected to dislike a small school but instead found the opposite. “It was lovely…at SNU people were very loving.”
Remembering their time at SNU, the seniors shared what they wish they had done earlier in their college experience. Rash wishes she had stepped out of her comfort zone sooner: “I wish I would have tried more things.” Padgett agrees, offering a straightforward piece of advice: “Find your friends fast, get plugged in…don’t spend so much time in your room.” Faulk adds, “Be ready for change and be yourself,” while also wishing she had not cared so much about what others thought.
Crouch spoke to a real struggle college students face early on, admitting, “I almost didn’t sleep my first semester…I should have figured out how to say no.” It is a lesson many students seem to learn eventually, the balance of school and life.
With the past in view and their futures so close, the present has become all the more sweet. Rash explains that she will miss singing every day. Faulk echoes that and adds that she will miss “seeing friends while walking to classes.” Crouch finds herself thinking about all the unexpected connections she made, and how she did not realize it would matter so much until now.
Looking forward, there is a shared mix of anticipation and uncertainty. Rash says that she is excited to start a new chapter, even if she does not know exactly what it will look like. Padgett looks forward to a different kind of structure but admits finding a job is “nerve-racking.” Faulk hopes to “grow as an adult and find a good work/life community,” while Crouch steps into what will hopefully be her master’s program.
For now, though, the focus is not entirely on what is ahead. It is about soaking in what is left. The last classes, the last performances, the last walks across campus. Because while the future is coming quickly, these final moments are still here and ready to be enjoyed.
Crouch ends with an encouragement to her graduating class: “We did it.”
Photo credits: Shelby Kinuthia