By: Jeff Ullery ~Copy Editor~

Jimmy Fallon has the right idea.

College is a whirlwind. A series of nights staying up late doing homework, hours spent in the caf and memories made with people whom you will regard as your best friends. At times, it has all blurred together for me and left me breathless, either from exhaustion or awe. It’s kind of like when you listen to a favorite piece of music: you’re listening for the good parts, singing along and enjoying each moment until suddenly you realize it’s over and all you want to do is listen to it again.

The last few weeks of my senior year before graduation are sure to be a glorious finale for my time at Xavier, compacted into a few short weeks. Though it terrifies me, change is inevitable and oftentimes, good. The transition just makes things awkward.

In such a fast-paced world, it is easy to lose sight of the things that matter and the people who have touched our lives. However, do not ever underestimate the impact of being kind to someone or taking a moment to appreciate those who have helped you on your way.

As this final month of undergrad races by, I encourage everyone to stop, take a second to reflect and say thank you to the people who helped make our undergrad years memorable. Don’t worry, I’ll start.

Thank you, Manresa Orientation, for carrying all of my things into my dorm room and for giving me a group of about a dozen people who I never really interacted with again after those four days. Except for Tim, he’s cool.

Thank you, Club Sports, for the incessant emails and reminders about deadlines and forms that needed to be handled in order for me to go run around and toss a disc. And thank you for the invaluable leadership experience that gave me something to talk about in interviews and helped land me a job for after graduation.

Thank you, Xavier Pep Band, for teaching me to be creative when it comes to heckling players at women’s basketball games when there are hardly any fans there and for taking me across the country to new fantastic destinations to cheer on a team that I have come to love. And thank you for giving me better friends than I ever expected. Meeting Bill Murray was fun, too.

Thank you, Newswire, for suppressing my desire to write with Oxford commas, at least for now, and teaching me that it’s not possible to have an all-male a capella group with female members.

Thank you, English department, for the late nights writing research papers that I definitely should have started a month before and for reinforcing that saying something with confidence is always good, especially when you are making up what you’re saying on the fly.

Thank you, economics department, for exhausting my demand for learning about economics. You’re interesting, but I’d rather read Shakespeare than Adam Smith.

Thank you, UDF, for making delicious chocolate milkshakes and being open 24 hours, just in case I feel like getting a milkshake at 3 a.m. And thank you for your cheery employees who greet me so warmly whenever I have gotten a milkshake at 3 a.m.

Thank you, University Station, for giving me a new room to live in junior and senior year that is close to campus. And thank you for the many hours of sleep you stole while your construction workers drilled and worked before 8 a.m. right beneath my bedroom.

Thank you, music department, for taking up time the week before finals to put on a concert when all of my final projects are due the same week. And thank you for the opportunity to play music and be part of groups of people who love playing music and performing as much as I do. I couldn’t ask for better ensembles of which to be a part.

Thank you, Xavier Ultimate, for the random Facebook message before I even got to college, teaching me more about Pokémon than I ever wanted to know, the sore body on Mondays after tournaments, the eight hour car rides through snow and rain, the late night practices in January and for giving me teammates whom I regard as some of my closest friends and have changed me into the person I am today. I will miss you immensely.

Thank you, Xavier, for four amazing years.

And thank you for reading.