Dear OC,
It feels like not much time has passed since I first walked onto this little campus on a hill as a freshman four years ago. It feels like just yesterday I had started my first band camp with the fledgling Marching Comets, just met my first roommate, Ta’Neeka, and started a journey that I thought would last much longer. College has gone much faster than I ever thought possible and I have so many things to be thankful for at Olivet.
As a student, things get hard. Course work seems to pile up and I sometimes felt like I was drowning. Procrastination is a nasty habit and I had to learn that the hard way. I cannot say thank you enough to the professors that have helped me so much over the last couple of years. Professor Williams and Pavloski, your guidance has been so valuable over the last four years. Thank you for encouraging me to keep going when I found it really hard to see the other side of the tunnel. Professor Duby, thank you for roping me in to Olivet College giving me the opportunity to still me in a marching band. I would not have made it here if it were not for you, so thank you.
I’ve pushed myself to grow a lot over the last couple of years. When I got here,
I started working with the Echo newspaper because it was a safe choice for me. I didn’t think that I would be able to do anything involving radio, let alone have a show on-air. I quickly found that I was so wrong and having the opportunity to work with WOCR has been one of my favorite things offered at Olivet, even though I may have been extremely frustrated at times.
I made friendships that I feel will last a very long time. Being a part of the band brought me to my best friends. The goofs have been with me since day one and never fail to make a bad day better. I did something that I NEVER thought that I would do and pledged a Greek house. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone! I had absolutely no intention of pledging ever, let alone pledging my freshman year. I am forever grateful that I did because now I have the very, very, very, large family that is Alpha E. They may drive me up a wall sometimes, but they have no idea how much their goofy smiles and antics have kept and will keep me going when things get hard. To all my dumb brothers and sisters, I love you all very much. You all mean the world to me. Don’t do anything stupid and never let your fire die.
Saying goodbye to college is harder than I thought it would be and not really being able to do it in person leaves me feeling disheartened. While not everything was fine and dandy for me as student here at Olivet, the good times definitely outweighed the bad. Underclassmen, take advantage of the time that you have left at Olivet. Take the class that you think is interesting. Push yourself to go out of your dorm and actually hang out with people. You’re going to miss being around your friends all the time when you graduate. It feels like forever while you’re here, but I swear the time flies. Olivet College, thank you for all you’ve done for me. You tricked me into thinking that four years would be a very long time.
See you later OC,
Ashton Osborne
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