Dear Seniors,
You know the old saying, “Time flies when you are having fun.” That is how I feel about my time at Villanova over the past three and a half years.
As I write this letter, we are officially under 100 days until graduation, and there has been an unspoken agreement amongst the senior class to savor it.
Yet, we cannot help but think ahead. In a few months, we will be moving across the country, back home, to different nations, or staying here at Villanova for additional degrees. I have gone back and forth throughout senior year on whether I am ready for the change that comes with graduation.
College has been an experience so unique within itself that it is incomparable to any other. The highs, the lows, the opportunities and the growth throughout four years have shaped us into the people we are, and who we will be when we enter post-graduate life.
On Feb. 5, 2026, Villanova seniors were invited to attend the 100 Days Til Graduation Event at the Ardmore Music Hall. The event, essentially the senior class prom, included photo opportunities, food and drink, music and the chance to be surrounded by the rest of the senior class, for one of the last times.
There were moments when you would see the girl who lived down the hall freshman year, standing next to the girl you became friends with just earlier this year.
Spending the night with the people who have made Villanova feel like home, 100 Days Til Graduation was a night of nostalgia mixed with excitement for the future. It was a preview of what is scheduled to come during senior week in May.
“It is a weird feeling since all these events are centered around celebration, and they are supposed to be fun,” senior Claire Gaza said. “But it is also all a constant reminder that everything is coming to an end, which can feel really sad. I am ready to be done with school and classes, but I am not ready to leave my friends.”
It hit me for the first time in December, when I was celebrating some friends who were graduating a semester early, that this truly is it.
Seeing them move out of their apartments and begin their full-time jobs made me realize that in 97 days, that will be the rest of us.
Villanova has taught all of us seniors a lot. It has allowed us to learn life lessons we would not have otherwise, and we have learned plenty in the classroom as well.
“[Next year] I am going to grad school, and I am thrilled by how well prepared my Villanova education has made me for this next step,” senior Gabi Frank said.
My classes have taught me a lot. But I have learned more through the people I have met and the experiences I have lived.
The biggest lesson? Change is fundamental to our identity. Change, while inherently scary, has formed who we are. Change will also form who we become throughout the rest of our lives after school ends.
So, with just 97 more days until May 19, seniors, are we ready for this change?
With love always,
Lauren
