13 Words for the Class of 2013

By Sabrina Bong — Recently, Marquette University posted a request on Twitter, asking that people share 13 words of advice for the Class of 2013.

At first, I wasn’t going to post anything, fearing that it would be strange for a member of the Class of 2013 to post advice. But after reading through some of the wisdom other alumni had posted, I couldn’t resist. Even though I, too, was graduating, I felt that I had learned some important things that I wanted to share.

Graduation is that ultimate goal; everything you do, you do it with graduation in mind. All of us were excited for graduation. We counted down. We celebrated our last few classes. But the closer we approached to this momentous day, the slower I wanted time to go. Even though I was excited, I was also scared of what the future would hold. Would I get a job? Would I need to move and leave the safety of Wisconsin? (I have always jokingly told people that it would be very difficult for me to live somewhere where the Packers aren’t praised and adored …)

I also wanted time to slow down so that I could really enjoy the memories I was creating with my cohort. I wanted to be able to remember the little funny things we did and reminisce on the good times we had. There was the time I turned in a paper that was the size of a small novel (to be fair, the paper itself was only 10 pages, but the data that accompanied it was at least 30 pages!) All of the other girls were teasing me about it! Or the time we all found out we had passed the Praxis II right before we headed out to Madison for the Wisconsin School Counselor Association (WSCA) conference. We were cheering about it the whole ride there! We laughed about the first time we all met during the interviews, or how we didn’t understand all the acronyms people were using (everyone was mentioned ASCA and WSCA and CACREP at the interviews, acronyms we had never heard before!) I wanted to convey all of these things to the Class of 2013 – to enjoy the fun times, to remember those wonderful college years, to take everything in.

But most importantly, I wanted the graduating class to know that they now have a second family.

At graduation, Fr. Scott Pilarz told us that we were all sons and daughters of Marquette forever. All of us linked by the magic that is Marquette. That statement really made me think. I came to Marquette in Fall of 2007 because it felt like my home away from home. I stayed at Marquette in 2011 to get my Master’s because I felt like I had really become part of the Marquette community. Now, in 2013, I was leaving Marquette with the knowledge that I was joining a family that consisted of thousands of Marquette alumni. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I know that my Marquette family will never be far.

So my 13 words of advice were simply this:

Breathe slowly. Laugh often. Treasure the memories. You now have a second family.