Cat with a Chat

This week, I picked up my cap and gown.

It sounds like a simple task, just another item to check off a graduation to-do list, but it didn’t feel simple when I actually did it. Standing there, holding it in my hands, it felt like everything shifted a little. Graduation stopped feeling like something far away and started feeling real.

For so long, it’s been an idea. Just another date on the calendar. Something I’ve been working toward without fully understanding what it would feel like when it finally arrived. But seeing the cap and gown, something so physical and final, made it all finally sink in.

This is really happening.

I couldn’t help but think about who I was when I first arrived at Augustana. I remember feeling unsure of myself, unsure of where I fit, and unsure of what the next four years would look like. Back then, graduation felt impossibly far away, like something meant for a different version of me.

And now, somehow, I’ve become that version.

Holding the gown, I realized it represents more than just completing a degree. It holds the weight of every experience that brought me here—the challenges, the growth, the relationships, and the moments that shaped me in ways I didn’t always recognize at the time. It represents late nights, early mornings, difficult conversations, and unexpected opportunities. It represents learning not just in the classroom, but in the spaces in between.

In many ways, it represents a version of me that is about to come to an end.

That’s the part that feels hardest to fully process. For the past four years, being a student has been such a central part of my identity. My routines, my environment, and even my sense of direction have all been tied to this place. And now, I’m preparing to step out of that structure and into something new, but full of possibility.

There’s excitement in that, but also uncertainty.

I don’t have everything figured out, and I’m starting to realize that I don’t need to. What matters more is that I feel different than I did when I started. More confident in my decisions. More aware of who I am and what I value. More willing to step into the unknown, even when it feels uncomfortable.

This blog has been a space for me to reflect on that growth, to slow down and really consider what this time in my life has meant. Picking up my cap and gown felt like a moment that brought all of that reflection into focus. It’s a symbol of an ending, but also a reminder of everything I’m carrying forward with me.

Because while this chapter is coming to a close, the person I’ve become during it isn’t staying behind.

And maybe that’s what makes this moment feel less like an ending, and more like a beginning.