Today marks the beginning of my second semester with CollegeFashionista and the beginning of my last semester at Florida State University. The entire college experience has been rather surreal. In May, I will receive several fancy pieces of paper that will act as my golden ticket into the next chapter of my life. They will prove that I have completed a Bachelor of Arts in music, a minor in business, and certificate programs in violin performance and music entrepreneurship.
What they will not be able to prove is that I put everything I had into my work twelve hours a day, six days a week. They will not prove that I have failed nearly as many times as I have succeeded, whether in entrepreneurship, in friendship, in study, or in performance. They will not prove that each failure made me fight harder for what I believe in and made me work harder for what I desire. They won’t prove that I have grown into a woman that I admire, that I can now look at myself and see endless potential. No, these fancy pieces of paper cannot prove any of this.
But the things they cannot prove are the real reasons people attend college, right? Sure, higher education is almost obligatory at this stage and studying your desired field for years before you enter it makes you several steps ahead of those who did not. But we do not leave college talking about how much that accounting class changed our lives, or how that history paper about 18th-century English monarchs shaped us into who we are today; we leave college talking about our experiences outside of the classroom. The experiences outside of the classroom sculpt us. We begin as giant slabs of marble and leave as Venus de Milo.
All of this to say that in my last year of school, I decided to spend more time focusing on growing my friendships than anything else. The people that I have had the honor of meeting at Florida State are beyond compare. Never have I been exposed to such talent, passion, creativity, and authenticity (literally tearing up as I write this) in one group of people. They give me the unspoken encouragement that I need to express myself as freely as I please, just by doing so themselves. I attribute all of my successes to them and will continue to do so for as long as I have the pleasure of their companionship.
Oh, my outfit! How could I forget. My favorite part about my look is the leather jacket. It belonged to my mom in the early 2000s and is finally back in style (yay), so it has a special place in my wardrobe. When colored sunglasses first came out, I honestly thought that they were a little overrated, until I tried a pair on. I wear these yellow sunglasses almost every day. To me, they make the world seem like a brighter, more beautiful place! And to my favorite article of clothing, JEANS. I wish I had a pair of these in every cut and color, they are the definition of jean perfection.
I am eager to graduate at the end of this semester and use my golden ticket to enter the music industry. The thought of finally starting my career quite literally makes my skin crawl with excitement. My experiences as a student in the College of Music at Florida State have prepared me so well for what is to come, but they really weren’t kidding when they told me that these four years would fly by, were they?
