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The Eastern Echo Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024 | Print Archive
The Eastern Echo

Jeff Kelin Headshot

Leaving college life, EMU behind

This is the end of an era.

While I still have two spring classes to take, I shall soon be exiting the hallowed halls of Eastern Michigan University and moving on to the next phase of my life. That means this will be my final “regular season” TMP for The Eastern Echo.

Some of you will be moving on to bigger and better things as well, and most of you will be returning to Tower Town in the fall.

College is an interesting experience. For most, it is the first significant experience away from our parents. It is a time when we have some of the most meaningful experiences of our lives, the experiences that will shape us into the adults we become.

We learn about diversity, about interacting with others, about love, about friendship, about how to clean puke stains off of suede boots and countless other valuable lessons. Outside of classes, college is full of lessons in experimentation and discovery.

It’s also full of lessons of loss.

We learned a painfully profound lesson in loss last week when we lost some members of the EMU community. The summer brings less painful, yet equally profound, changes as well.

College is a time of change; not just in ourselves, but in our relationships. Loves are often lost through the distance summer brings, and friends will be moving on to new experiences, either in graduate school or in the “real world.”

As much as we might like to stay close with some of them, it is inevitable that time and distance will change many of those relationships.

Of course, not all change brings about loss. Whether we return to EMU in the fall or move on to something else, we will meet new people and establish new relationships.

This is my fourth stint in college and I will soon be earning my third degree, in addition to a few “real world” jobs. I can tell you better than most that life is a long series of changes.

Change is nothing to fear. If we pay attention to the lessons life has to teach us, we learn there is always something new right around the corner. When things are good, enjoy them as much as you can. When things are bad, though, don’t focus too much on today. Tomorrow will bring something new.

Change is the one constant in life. It is one lesson we will all have to learn.

One of the profound secrets in life is striking a balance of remembering the past, appreciating the present and embracing the future.

Good luck, and enjoy your summer!

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