Dear Class of 2026,
On Aug. 24, around 6:15 p.m, I was standing on Austin Field watching the incoming students in the Class of 2029 and transfer students enjoy the last event of their Orientation – the Wawa picnic. An event and program I had spent the entire spring semester and summer planning were coming to an end. At that moment, it hit me: this was my first last moment on campus. I would never again be wearing my Orientation bucket hat and name tag, instead I would be hanging them on the wall of my room in the Commons as a piece of decoration and memorabilia.
The following day, those of us in the Class of 2026 celebrated our last first day of classes. We tried to avoid the forbidden “S” word: seniors. Instead, we joked about this being the first day of 16th grade, not wanting to admit that this was the last one. Yet, after the first few days of the semester, there became an unspoken agreement between us to embrace it, and we stood together celebrating the little wins that come with this scary new title.
Initially, I was going to start this letter by saying, “happy senior year,” but it did not feel right. I feel it more appropriate to use the word “bittersweet.” We are in our last lap around campus, and with graduation creeping closer and closer everyday, we have begun our first lasts and our last firsts.
One thing is for certain, it is up to us to decide how we want to treat these moments, and I urge us seniors to take in every moment, to be fully present and to live every day of senior year as if it is our last. After all, we only have 251 more days here on campus.
This can look different for us all. For some, taking a million pictures a day and recording every moment feels right as a way to be able to look back at these times. For others, it may be the opposite, leaving your phones behind in order to be fully present with the people you love. There is no right answer, just what feels most natural to oneself.
The beginning of senior year is also a time to reflect on the growth we have all experienced here at Villanova. Not one of us in the Class of 2026 will be walking the stage in May as the same person that walked into Villanova as a new student. This is a good thing. While college is a time to deepen your education, it is also a place to grow into the person you are meant to become.
Three years ago, I sat on the campus green and was greeted by the 2022 Orientation theme: “curiosity invites possibilities; where will they take you?” The curiosity of what possibilities Villanova had in store for me led me to joining The Villanovan. It led me to apply to be an Orientation staff member. It pushed me to become a better person by surrounding myself with better people. For myself, and many of you, the push to see where these possibilities would take us led to finding the communities and people that will make it so hard to say goodbye in just a few months.
Seniors, while the end is scary, we still have so many last firsts in store for us this year. We have basketball tailgates, new classes and professors, the opportunity to join clubs that have interested us in the past and so much more.
If curiosity invites possibility, then senior year invites intention. It is not just about where we are heading, but who we are taking our journeys with. I am excited to be able to take this journey with you all, and cannot wait to see us all grow over our last moments here at Villanova.
So, a toast to the bittersweet beginning of senior year. To the year of first lasts and last firsts. Let’s make some memories and live a senior year well lived.
With Love Always,
Lauren
