Not only does January mark the beginning of 2017, it also marks the beginning of my last semester at Grand Valley State University. Throughout my time at school, GVSU has gone from an on the rise university to one of the better universities in Michigan. Grand Valley built a new library, a new science building and renovated their gym all within my stay. For myself, I lived in four different places, turned the legal drinking age and learned twice as much as I have forgotten. Yet there is still much I have to accomplish before I can call my time at GVSU a success.

Aside from the obvious boxes I have to check, minor things such as passing my courses, I would still like to continue to experience new things. My girlfriend would like for me to take her to the President’s Ball, while I would like to have a sit-down conversation with our fearless leader Thomas Haas. One of these is clearly easier to accomplish than the other, but nonetheless I would like to do both. There are many places that I need to see as well. For instance, I’d like to drink at Brewery Vivant, only after I have waded in the Grand River trying to catch a salmon.

Sure, there is much ahead for me to experience and accomplish, but there is also so much more that I wish I would have done better. ‘I have no regrets’ is one of my least favorite phrases there is, because I regret plenty. I have regrets on a daily basis, things as small as picking the wrong thing at lunch. Obviously, these regrets don’t eat at me, but I do question some of my decisions in undergrad. Although my sophomore year in the apartments was a blast, I wonder what would have been different had I stayed in the dorms for one more year. I wonder what would have been different had I chosen to go on an alternative break instead of going to Daytona. There were plenty of clubs I wish I would’ve not only joined, but had gotten deeply involved in. But at the time, all I knew was what I knew, I did not have the wisdom of future me.

On the other hand, I look upon myself with a smile when I remember some of the decisions I did make. I had a blast playing intramurals with some of the best friends I’ll ever have. I have great memories of playing trivia on Wednesdays and singing karaoke on Thursdays. I am thankful for the relationships I have made with my professors. While it sure was boring, I even look fondly upon pulling a couple of infamous all night study sessions. On the contrary, skipping studying to go to ‘late night’ at Kleiner was twice as fun as studying.

While there is much left for me to do, I am proud of all I accomplished while I was here. Even though I will just be a small, barely visible name in the commencement booklet, Grand Valley will take up a much bigger section in my book.