Graduated.

I've been putting off writing this post for a while because I knew how hard it would be for me to write. My time in Cedar City and in my undergrad has come to an end. Graduation was May 2nd and it was all over so fast.

The night before, Colby and I went to an Ellie Goulding concert in Salt Lake and we didn't get back until 3 am (so worth it). So when I woke up at 6:15 on graduation day everything was kind of a blur. I got to school and found my friends and took pictures, and then we were walking under the bell tower like I've said in all my tours for the past two years and wow, I was finally doing it. And then we were passing all our professors who were cheering us on and hugging us and I was holding back tears for some reason and then I was in the Centrum and it hit me that this was it. All the essays and late nights and tubs of ice cream and karaoke parties and panic attacks and bad dates and best friends and math problems and crappy apartments and summer hikes and everything else was all summed up in that one moment. Every single amazing experience and all the hard times that made up college were coming to an end. I sat in my seat between some of my best friends and listened to Ann Romney but really, it was all too much.

We went to Centro after the first session and then the bookstore and the communication department open house and then it was time for me to receive my diploma. I found some of my communication department friends and we sat together and watched to see if our classmates caps would fall off when they hugged their professors. When it was my turn, I tried to take everything in and I remember hearing my name whispered to me from my favorite French professor and hugging my mentors that have made such a difference in the past three years of my life. I took a picture in front of the American flag, which was an interesting choice, and then I was whisked off to see my great grandma and then to pack up my house and leave Cedar City.

Everything went so fast but on the drive down to my new temporary home in St. George, I couldn't believe that I would never again go back to those little apartments I've lived in the past three years and shared with some of my absolute best friends. I'd never again trudge into the computer labs last minute before class started. I'd never again don a red polo and show a nervous high schooler around the place that has been my home and helped shape me into who I am today. I'd never again play intramural soccer outside the PE building with barely a full team. I'd never again pose for a picture with 80 of my closest friends.

I know I have a lot of exciting things ahead of me but I truly am going to miss Cedar City and especially Southern Utah University. I'm so thankful for all the lessons I learned during my time there and all the incredible friends I made. I can't wait to keep in touch with all of you and share my life with you for many, many years to come.

All I can say is... I loved college.