Seizing the college years

SHARONM KOLANKIEWICZ STAFF WRITER SMK724@CABRINI EDU

I cannot believe that this school year is coming to a close. It seems as though yesterday I was moving into my dorm in New Residence Hall. Reality has been setting in on my mind lately. I just can’t believe that I am half-way through my college life. So much has happened to me in these past two years, and I have encountered so many learning experiences. People have always told me that the college years go by the fastest. It’s not that I didn’t believe the theory. I had never experienced college, so how could I know that they are the fastest years?

It seems it was just yesterday I graduated from high school, and in the fall of 2003 I entered my freshman year at Cabrini. My friends and I are grasping the fact that we will be upperclassmen when August approaches in four months. In these two years alone, I have had so many fond memories and obstacles. I know in the next two years that I will be creating many more fond memories. I am also sure I will be faced with more obstacles as well. I keep thinking on how fast these two years have gone. I can only imagine how fast the next two years will go for me. There is still so much I want to accomplish while in college, and I know that there is not enough time to accomplish all of my goals. been. The saddest part was that he could not respond to us in words because he started to lose his sense of communication. I knew he had a million things he wanted to tell us. I just wish I could have heard them all.

I have realized that the college years are the best years and the most fun. They can also be the most challenging, especially since people are figuring out who they are in life. However, I would not take back any of my experiences that I have had in college. When I look back 10 years from now, I will look back without any regrets.

Now that he is in heaven, he will be able to be with us wherever we are. I know there is never a good time for death, but I really think in his case, the sooner the better. We want to remember him how he was before he was sick.

I remember him as the man who started taking up new things at an old age. He became younger everyday. As a 70-yearol,d he started taking yoga classes. His smile is so genuine that I could never forget it. During the summer I have many memories of him catching waves at the Jersey shore. He used to stay in the water the longest and never wanted to go home. He enjoyed every second of his life and has inspired me to do the same. Every opportunity that I am given to experience life in a new way, I take it.

This hard situation for my family could not have been any timelier. This year the public has been watching the case of Terri Schiavo. Her family has been caught up in an extreme case dealing with euthanasia. I believe that everything happens for a reason, and only God can decide when a person’s battle with life is completed. The fight that my grandfather had been overcoming finally came to an end. His bravery will never be forgotten. “God’s picking the All-Star team, first the pope, now Pop-pop,” said a family friend at the wake.