Everyone has their list of firsts that they’ll never forget – first job, first kiss, first car or whatever else.
I can definitely say that my favorite first, no matter what else happens in my life, will be Gannon, also known as my “first college experience.”
The more I think about it, though, college isn’t really a “first,” it’s more of an “only.”

Those of us who are lucky enough to experience higher education really only get one shot to accomplish a whole lot.
What we mean to accomplish in college is completely dependent on who we are, and what we leave behind.
When I first started at Gannon, my goal was to just get my degree in journalism communications so that I could become a writer for some sort of musical magazine and move onto bigger and better things in a super large city.
As I’m now approaching the official end of college in a little over a week, I’ve come to realize that the girl who will be walking across the stage now will not be the same girl who graduated from high school.
I instead plan on embarking on a career in the field of public relations in Washington D.C. in place of being a New York City-style journalist, and I’m no longer the meek, grade-grubbing robot that I used to be in high school.
While I still care about my grades, I’ve come to appreciate life more for the experiences, and for the big picture.
After all, that’s what life’s really all about – experience – what you learn, and who you learn it from.
The list of life lessons and knowledge I’ve acquired over the past four years could literally go on for days.
But to make it short and sweet, I’m going to say two simple words: thank you.
Thanks to anyone and everyone who has made me who I am today.
Thanks to my parents, who taught me not to forget who I am in my quest to find something new.
Thanks to my adviser Frank Garland, who taught me that the “power of the pen” is actually something real.
Thanks to my beloved sisters of Alpha Sigma Tau, who taught me that it really is possible to be an individual in a united group.
And to everyone else – you know who you are, and I love you all. To those students who still have time to make life-long memories at Gannon – live it up.
Don’t take a single moment or person for granted.
Everything that happens now, whether it seems to be life-changing or not important at all, all have a place in the future.
College is the frame of a 1,000-piece puzzle. Sure, the frame is only a part of the whole puzzle, but without the frame, the rest of the pieces wouldn’t make any sense when you try to put them together.
I’ve learned that college, and the experiences you create while in college, serve as the framework to a very large and intricate life puzzle.
Take good care of the pieces.

JANAE BUTLER
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