Let the countdown begin

Valentine's Day was a suck-ass holiday for all the typical reasons. However, I got a bit of wonderful news that Wednesday afternoon as I ventured over to the Records office to check on the status of my senior audit. I asked to speak to Ms. Gede, the woman in charge of all graduation applications purposely before midterms to see where I stood and if there was anymore heartache in the forecast. She didn't have any of that for me. "Chris, you're fine. Just pass your classes this semester, and you'll be graduating." It took everything inside of me not to do cartwheels around that woman's office. You see, after close to six years, $47,000 in student loans, nine different roommates, six different rooms/apartments, four years on newspaper staff, through good times and bad, my undergraduate experience is three months away from ending. And I'm alright with that. More than alright with that.

This is exciting me to no end because I can actually visualize my graduation day, which is something I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing in quite some time. In the spring of 1999, I was jerked out of marching across the stage with my Howard High School of Technology classmates because of a wayward geometry teacher and her raggedy grading scale. That was probably the most humiliated I've ever been in my life. Sitting at home June 11th, which ironically was the same date my mother graduated from Howard some 27 years earlier. Once I enrolled at DSU, I promised myself that I would march across a stage to get my degree, no matter if it took longer than four years. Well, it has, but it's all for the good.

On another historical note, this will be 20 years to the spring of my last graduation, kindergarten at the People's Settlement Association, the community center in my neighborhood. That day will always be remembered as the day I tagged Eddie Jervey because he wouldn't stop plucking my graduation hat, and the lady who was speaking said "I won't take long" and I apparently yelled out "GOOD!" I don't remember it, but my mother loves to tell that story, so I go with it.

But now that I've had time to reflect, I can remember my DSU experience year for year. Some times were good, most were bad, but they all served a purpose. It's up to me to learn from my mistakes and correct them as I go forth into the real world. From a 19 year old kid whose naive, innocent view of the world perished along with 8,000 lives on 9-11 to a 25 year old man not quite ready, but still not afraid to move on with his life. Who knew? So let the countdown begin, kids. 92 days left in undergrad. I can't believe that graduation is actually in my sights. As we sports media types like to say, I control my own destiny with my classes and everything. Maybe I've controlled my destiny all along. Whatever the case, I'm ready for these last three months. Hopefully the last three months are ready for me.