The smells and sounds of finals are in the air. Across campus, red bulls are being cracked, brand new textbooks are being opened and even the most math-averse of us are incessantly checking just what scores we need to scrape by with the grades we’ll settle for.

For those ISU students who will be graduating, this will be the last push before we finally get that piece of paper we have sat, listened and slept through so many classes for. It is the dawn of a new day, the beginning of an era. We are on to bigger and better things and have been working for this moment for years. We could go on and on with clichés, but you get the gist: things will be changing for graduates.

Many will go on to more schooling, while others will try to find someone who will give them money in exchange for their souls and happiness, one paycheck at a time. Still others will move back in to their parents’ basement and rue the day they didn’t pick a more desirable degree. Whatever the graduates of Iowa State will be doing, the vast majority will be doing it somewhere else.

That can be exciting, but it can also be hard. Ames is a wonderful place, and by the time we reach our senior year, we know just which bars and party houses we like and which professors give out the easy grades. 

Those who will miss their time at the university can rest assured, however, that the Iowa State Foundation will keep in touch. The many friendly calls will keep us all firmly connected to our alma mater and will only cost us the energy it takes to say “no thank you” to the repeated requests for donations until we are more financially stable.

And fret not, for those who will miss attending ISU sporting events, there will be more energetic, glassy-eyed and sometimes stumbling Cyclones to take your place at Jack Trice and at Hilton.

Those who leave Ames but wish to continue their love affair with ISU athletics will still attend games in spirit if not in body. Although yelling at a television set is a poor substitute for cheering directly for or against players, coaches and the occasional blind referee, it will still undoubtedly make us feel a little bit better. 

In all seriousness, congratulations to those seniors who will be graduating this semester. You have all put in the time and the effort to achieve something not everyone achieves, and your dedication has not been found wanting.

Our university will recognize you later this week and even if you choose not to walk across a stage, you will be receiving a physical embodiment of what you have learned here at Iowa State.

The entirety of what that degree represents, however, cannot be written down on paper. College is a time for many fun memories, but it is also a transitional period in all students’ lives, from an eager freshman to a full-fledged adult. Hopefully that transition is now complete, even if you might not mind an extra year or two here at Iowa State.