In the past four years,

I have officially graduated! (Still waiting in my diploma to come in the mail, but the sentiment is there.) I have come far and accomplished much. In rereading the advice I had for myself freshman year, I can see that not much has changed. I am still listening to my English, Spanish mix of music on youtube. I am still staring out over the lush valleys and mountains of the Shenandoah and I am still bursting with enthusiasm to finally step into my role as a licensed educator.

Then again, much has changed. I have a job, working at the very middle school I attended with an HR staff who are also Longwood alumni. I am taking summer courses for graduate school online because of a crazy pandemic. I am single, doing just fine with me myself and I. I was able to attend a socially distanced award ceremony to watch my younger brother graduate high school with many honors and awards. I am assuredly blazing a path forward, never quite sure where it leads but ecstatic to get there.

As far as my goals from the past four years, I would say I have been rather successful. I have kept up with my volunteer activities and plan to continue as I resettle into my home and work. Teaching English at the immigration center was such an amazing experience that I may just find a way to continue similar work here. I did keep my 4.0, an accomplishment that rings with pride especially since I did not let the self-imposed pressures of maintaining perfection (grade-wise) prevent me from conducting research and pursuing a plethora of challenging honors courses. In fact, I have plans to continue my work in scholarship beyond graduate school in research and innovations within education.

As far as my friends and relationships, I plan to keep up with at least a few friendly faces. I have gathered quite a lot of numbers (I have at least 5 Emilys in my phone!) and will be back to visit campus during my year of graduate classes. In addition, I will be entering a simultaneously familiar and foreign community as I begin my teaching career in the same building with some of the same teachers I saw daily. I will be educating alongside some of the very people who educated me. It is both thrilling and terrifying at the same time, but as always, I am up for the challenge.

Without having pushed myself in advanced courses, study abroad, extracurriculars, and innumerable other ways, I would not be where I am now. Success is not simply something that happens. Achievement is not something handed out. Opportunities come to those who are prepared to realize them. My growth in and outside the classroom has thoroughly prepared me for the challenges ahead in that I have not simply grown, but learned better how to grow. After this there will never be a challenge I cannot face not because I already possess the skills to surmount them but because I possess the refined ability to improve upon approach.

In the next five,

While this rather lengthy reflection is intended to retroactively reflect on how far I have common, there is also merit in looking toward the future. This was my past four years. In examining what I have done then I know better what I wish to do next. In the next five years, I will have my master’s degree and be free of debt from college loans. I will have applied if not been accepted to enter the Peace Corps where I will provide my services to those who need them most. I will continue to seek out opportunities for improvement and pride myself on volunteering locally in my community. More than anything else, I will not forget the rush of discovery or falter in my pursuit of greater knowledge and understanding. I will never stop learning because I will always ask how life can be improved.

I have come quite a distance. I cannot wait to see how much further I can go!

Sincerely,

Taylor Bauer of May 23, 2020