If you've read just about any of my posts, you can probably tell that I really love Saint Mike's. I've taken some fantastic classes during my time here and had some priceless experiences (with my friends, as part of the Liturgical Choir, studying in Ireland, etc.). So thinking about leaving this place I have come to call my home is a bit scary. I will no longer be living with my best friends, nor will they be a two minute walk from my house. I won't get to celebrate Mass in the Chapel every Sunday night with my favorite crazy people. Soon I'll have to say goodbye to the students I've been working with at my internship every week since the end of August.
Despite all of this, I have a choice to make. I can choose to dwell on the fact that many of the things I love about Saint Mike's will soon be merely memories of "the best four years" of my life, as they say, or I can choose to be grateful for the friends I've made, the experiences I've had, the lessons I've learned, and how much I've grown. All of these aspects contribute to why I truly believe my time at Saint Mike's is priceless (though I know it does have a price...thanks mom and dad for helping me out with that :)). Maybe more importantly, I can choose to just smile and be happy, especially despite all my stress and work, I have friends who can make me laugh.
Whether or not I'm excited about graduation depends on the day, and sometimes even the moment. I'm not excited to leave behind some of the experiences I've gotten used to having on a daily basis, but I am excited to put the skills and lessons I've learned both academically and about myself to good use. I'm not exactly sure where I will end up, but I do know that I want to be a counselor. Being a psychology major has helped me to solidify that decision, and now I need to decide what age group I want to work with (I'm currently debating between kids and married couples).
I've tried to include songs that I've been listening to at the end of most of my posts, so I want to end by sharing a song with you that I've known for a few years, but that I feel really applies to me right now. It's called "93 Million Miles" by Jason Mraz. The point of the song is basically to express that no matter where you are or where you go, you can always go back home. For me, "home" no longer refers to just my house in New Hampshire. It means Saint Mike's, it means Galway (Ireland), it means the Maine coast, and it's a feeling I get when I hang out with my best friends and my mom. I have no doubt that in a few years, I will have places to add to this list of where and what I consider home.
Okay, time to remind myself that I still have a few more weeks and quite a lot of work to do before graduation, so I'm off to try and be productive!
Thanks for reading, as always! Feel free to email me with any questions or find me on Twitter. Looking forward to the Accepted Students Day this coming Saturday!
~Merrill
PS In addition to the Jason Mraz song, I've been spending a lot of time listening to Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I just finished it last night - it was crazy but so good!!
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