Last week, over a simple cup of coffee, I realized that as of today there are only 191 days until graduation.
While some of my fellow senior staff members are having a major case of senioritis, I on the other hand am having a serious case of senior denial syndrome.
I am a girl who loves to have options, a lot of options.
When I declared my major freshman year I thought that double majoring and minoring would be a good idea.
It was, but now as the first half of the year starts to wind down it is sinking in that soon I will have to decide what I want to do.
Do I graduate, go out into the grown-up world and get a job or continue on into graduate school?
Some of these ideas were discussed over that simple cup of coffee with one of guys I worked with at the Detroit Historical Society.
When I told him that I had started to count down the days until graduation, he said that was cute.
Cute is not the right word for it.
Slightly freaking out seemed more appropriate at the time.
The girl who loves options was now starting to realize that narrowing down those options was going to be no easy task.
Last Tuesday, I decided to look into my option of going to graduate school.
One of my history professors encouraged me to contact some professors at grad schools where I was looking to apply.
The head of graduate studies at Michigan contacted me and we arranged a meeting.
The program there is amazing and even though the football team is awful, it would be an honor to go there.
The professor I met made it very, very clear how competitive this history program was – only about 30 students get in – but I made the decision to apply anyway and see where the cards fall.
Everyone thinks about the future, which is exciting, but it is also a little scary.
Like all things, we should focus on the good and not on the bad.
Over the weekend I went to Chicago with my family and while there I thought about what it would be like to live in the city. Car horns and sirens going off in the night, hordes of people trying to cross the street before the light changes and plenty of options on what to do.
It sounds like my kind of place, but in order to do so I will need to look for a job.
I know that whatever I do next year I will be happy doing and I will always have the option to change my mind.
In the meantime, I need to focus on making the most of my time left here at UDM.
There are a few things that I still need to do, like go to a basketball game.
Yes, I have never been to a basketball game here, but I still have 191 days to go to one.
That is only a number and it is not there to hurt me but instead encourage everyone who is graduating in May to make the most of the time left at UDM.
Jackson is VN editor-in-chief
