I can’t believe it’s finally here. After three grueling, arduous years in college, at long last I am graduating.
You won’t find any secrets to success here. I’m sure we graduates will hear our fair share of banal platitudes during the ceremony. Instead, I’d like to take advantage of this opportunity to reflect on my years here.
Somewhere between being forced to share a room with a male stranger during orientation because of a clerical error, decorating everything – including the bathroom – in my dorm for Christmas with some of my favorite suitemates, roaming around Spain for a summer and being stung by a stingray in surfing class, I managed to actually learn something here.
If there is one thing that has truly made my undergraduate experience, it is the people I have encountered along the way. From the roommate who got on my last nerve to the one who has become like a sister to me; from the loud, nutty friend I can always count on for a laugh to the caring, pensive one I can always go to for an enlightening conversation; my last three years have been shaped by the people I’ve been fortunate enough to meet. It is these people, above all else, that I will miss when I move on, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them for the difference they’ve made in my life.
Krystle, know that you deserve the best. Never settle for less. Chris, I can’t imagine school without you. You made going to every class worthwhile. Sean, you made dorming more fun. Hannah, I look forward to hiding our superhero identities beneath regular professions by day and fighting crime by night with you.
Being on the newspaper staff provided a way for me to get more involved on campus. Although I felt like I was descending into the bowels of Dante’s inferno each time I went to the newsroom (which resides in a claustrophobic basement with no windows so that the editors lose all concept of time), the people I met there made it worth it. I am particularly glad I have gotten to know the ladies of the newsroom, who always make for the best girls’ nights.
While my friends have taught me a great deal over the past few years, my education naturally wouldn’t have been complete without being able to learn from some of the shining stars of the comparative literature and Spanish departments. They have truly helped me to change the way I look at the world.
Peter Markman is bar none one of the greatest teachers I have ever had. Claire Martin was one of the first in my long educational career to truly challenge me, and I have learned more at this university because of that than I ever could have otherwise. Both of these professors have prepared me well for the graduate work that I will begin in the fall.
Last, but certainly not least, my undergraduate education would not have been what it was if it weren’t for former CSULB President Robert Maxson and the president’s Scholars Program that he began. While so many students are now facing mountains of debt, I was fortunate enough to receive this scholarship. I am also sincerely grateful to Jennie Hurley, the program, and all of its donors. I hope I am up to the challenge of making their investment worthwhile.
Good luck and Go Beach!
Chenin Simi is a graduating senior Spanish and comparative world literature major and a copy editor for the Daily Forty-Niner.
