By Addison Burke, Sports Editor

My time in college is nearly over, and yet, I still have no idea what I’m doing with my life. I feel unprepared for my life post-grad, as though the last four years of my life have accounted for nothing. 

My time in college has been strange. I never imagined transferring after my first year because I thought I had picked the right place for myself. I never imagined coming to a new school and picking up two hobbies I had never done before and loving them. While I’ve enjoyed my time in college, I am so ready to be done. 

This has been the longest four years of my life, and that’s not an exaggeration. My freshman year feels like it could have been 10 years ago. I am such a different person than I was four years ago, mostly in good ways. I am also a million times more burnt out than I was four years ago. 

Even through the mixture of good and bad throughout my time, college has taught me a lot about myself and about the people around me. 

One of the biggest things I have learned is that it’s better to have two to three close friends than to keep friendships alive on your own. Cut the ties with the people who don’t put any effort into your friendships. Find those few people who truly care about you during your highest highs and lowest lows and get rid of the people who only talk to you when they need something. 

College also taught me a lot about stepping outside of my comfort zone and trying new things. Going into college, I knew I wanted to try out some new things but I didn’t really do that until my sophomore year. At Xavier I decided to join the pep band despite not knowing how to properly play music. This is why you likely saw me on the cowbell at every basketball game this year. I also took a leap and joined Newswire, which I will always be glad I did as it helped to ignite my passion for writing.  

Despite all I learned and all the things I got to do, I don’t feel prepared for what life is like beyond college. I have struggled to find a job, I can’t afford to live on my own because everything is too expensive and I am also scared to live on my own despite it being my biggest wish post-grad. 

I feel failed by the world; I entered college in the middle of a global pandemic and now I leave college amidst economic uncertainty and under a president who is taking away rights and protections every day. The future under this administration is scary.

While I feel failed by the world, I more so feel failed by the university. The school acts like they care about you, but all they care about is your money. I should have the same support in finding a job that the business majors do, but if I step foot in the Career Development Office they say there’s nothing they can do to help me. I’m lucky to have professors who want to support me in my post-grad endeavors, but the school needs to do better to support everyone, especially the humanities students. 

More needs to be done to ensure that all graduates – not just those in the business school or those outside the humanities – feel prepared for life after graduation. I found things I love at Xavier, things I want to explore in my future, but that future is blurry, making me question if I’m the one who failed or if it’s others who’ve failed me.