With each winter semester comes a whole new class of soon-to-be-graduating seniors. Finally, I find myself in that grouping of students and, like most of the people who share my status, I could not be more excited. But if you’re like me, you’re experiencing full-blown senioritis, too. I am just so ready to walk across that stage and grab my diploma. Nevertheless, even with that thought in the back of my mind, I think it’s really important that we all push ourselves to finish out strong.

It’s so easy to fall victim to the mindset of “I just need to graduate” or “Cs get degrees.” I’ve definitely thought about that once or twice or a million times over my time spent in school because yes, both of those mindsets are true. But the better question to ask yourself is if you really want to finish four years of hard work with a lackluster last semester. You probably don’t.

These last couple of months should be your time to shine because you’ve worked your butt off to get here. Plus, despite popular belief, your life isn’t going to get easier when you graduate just because you don’t have to go to class. School is a lot of work, but actual work is also a lot of work. Once you get your diploma, you might not have huge papers and exams to stress over, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have presentations and reports to give your boss once you snag your first “real adult” job. 

Moving onto something bigger and better than college is exciting, but now is definitely not the time to lose your work ethic. When you’re going out trying to get that first job, you don’t want potential employers to see your GPA fall off the deep end during your last year of school. You’ve clearly already worked hard to get your 120 credits, so why stop now? 

A lot of this is easier said than done. Trust me, I know. There are times I feel like graduation can’t come quickly enough, but that excitement and anticipation shouldn’t outweigh my ability to succeed. Instead, we should all be using our last semester to improve ourselves even further. Personally, I’m trying to adopt new study methods and time-management skills. 

I’m taking more classes this semester than I ever have while at Grand Valley State University. Pairing that with work and extracurriculars is enough to make me want to throw in the towel, and it’s only the beginning of the semester. But instead of doing that, I’ve chosen to work even harder than I have before. By laying out a schedule for completing my reading and doing my assignments, I’m making sure that I graduate on a high note. 

I’ve picked up some bad learning habits over the last 17 years of my schooling, and this semester is my last chance to nip them in the bud. I think that this is incredibly important because we might all be graduating, but we’re definitely not done learning. Whether we take our talents to the workforce or to grad school or to some other walk of life, we should all be taking these last couple months in school to grow just a little bit more.