A year ago today, I graduated from the University of Kansas. As my family gathered to celebrate my special day, so did the storm clouds. Graduates crossed their fingers and wished for clear skies. It seemed nothing could ruin graduation except rain. The university hadn’t canceled graduation in more than a decade, and I hoped the streak would continue. KU has a very special commencement ceremony. Graduates line up at the top of a hill with the football stadium at its base. Two lines merge under the historic bell tower and down the hill into the stadium. The bell tower, which is better known as the Campanile, is a World War II memorial. It is university superstition that if you walk under the tower during your undergraduate years, you will not graduate from KU. I am not normally a superstitious person, but I could never bring myself to walk under the Campanile. A staple to the campus, yet I had no idea what lied inside. It is this intrigue, which draws people to the tower. Only to fret if the curse is in fact real or not for their remainder at KU. I was going to be the first person since my mom to graduate from college, and I didn’t want anything else real or not to stop me from graduating.
I awoke the morning of graduation after a restless nights sleep. I could think of nothing but rain and not being able to partake in KU’s most cherished tradition. To distract myself from constantly checking my phone for weather updates, I decided to make the cake for my graduation party. I had planned to make it the previous evening but instead went out with my family and friends to the Sandbar. I quickly whipped up Martha Stewart’s famous chocolate cake and popped it in the oven. I convinced myself it was time to get ready even though there had been no word on the status of the ceremony. My mom and aunt arrived just in time to see me in a most peculiar outfit. Not wanting to get chocolate frosting on my purple graduation dress, I had fastened my bath towel around me in a makeshift apron. I piped a large KU in the middle of the cake along with all the girls’ names for the combined graduation party. Of course, I ran out of frosting just in time for my name. While attempting to make the exact shade of blue I kept licking the frosting off my fingers, big mistake. My mom burst out laughing for no apparent reason until she instructed me to look in the mirror. Looking at my reflection just an hour before graduation, I had managed to stain my teeth, mouth and tongue bright blue. I was able to scrub my teeth and mouth back to normal, but there was no hope for my tongue. I barely had time to fret before the announcement was made that commencement would go on rain or shine. My roommate and I toasted with mimosas before we headed down to congregate behind the Campanile. Finding our friends was definitely easier said than done since there was approximately 10,000 people all using their phones at once. Thankfully we found some common ground, and it was time to pop the champagne. Passing around a bottle of Asti Spumante champagne, I had never been more excited in my life. The Campanile chimed signaling the start to our slow progression to the tower. Before we knew it the tower was in front of us, and it was our turn to finally pass under. After four years of mystery, it was worth the wait. Motivational words about fighting for our liberty surround the walls. A unique blue and red pattern with gold accents was adorn on the ceiling. We stopped to snap a few pictures but in an instant it was over. We emerged on the other side and began our descent down the hill and into the stadium. Stopping for more pictures and scanning the crowd for our families, we took our time getting down the hill. 
Once in the stadium, I convinced my friends to link arms and skip down the professor-lined path. Evidently we got prime jumbotrone time, but none of us saw it. Taking our seats, we anxiously waited for the rest of the graduates to file in and for the ceremony to begin. Finally the speeches began focusing on what the “real world” had in store for us. Speech after speech passed until it was time for the chancellor to bestow our degrees upon us. First came the college of liberal arts and sciences (CLAS) that makes up the majority of the graduates, including myself; however, I was most excited for my journalism degree to be announced. While I chose to sit in the CLAS section, many of my friends sitting with me were fellow journalism graduates. As the chancellor instructed the journalism students to rise, cheers and applause erupted from various sections of students. With no bias at all, I believe we cheered the loudest of the specialty schools. I couldn’t believe it. It was official. I was in fact a college graduate, and not just any college graduate. I had somehow made it out in four years with two degrees. The ceremony wrapped up, and everyone went to meet their parents before the graduation parties began. As a walked to meet my family, all I could think about was the fact that I had did it. From the start of college, graduation always seemed like a far off concept. Something that was attainable but never felt real until it actually happened.
I remember that day as if it happened yesterday, and I hope the memory will continue to be as vivid in years to come. Everyone always said college would be the best years of my life and to savor each moment. While I do believe I had four amazing years, I am not one to think the best years of my life are in the past.
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