Dear Emma,

I am graduating this semester. I’ve had an awesome four years at WSU (minus the pandemic parts). While I’m really excited to be done with school, I just can’t imagine leaving all the friends I’ve made during my time here. I don’t love change, so the thought of uprooting my entire life is stressing me out. 

Any suggestions for how I can handle leaving so soon?

2021 Grad

Dear 2021 Grad,

First of all, congratulations! Graduating is an accomplishment, not to mention graduating after a year and a half of online learning. Pat yourself on the back.

One thing that might be helpful for closure is having a celebration with all your friends and family. Getting to see everyone together will give you a happy memory to look back on when you’re stressed about moving away from Pullman. Plus, it will be nice to connect with the people you are going to be leaving behind. 

If you want extra time to connect with each person, give them a call or visit them in person to invite them. That way, you have some time to catch up with them individually before having everyone together at once. 

My only recommendation for a grad party is to keep pandemic restrictions in mind. No one is saying you can’t have a party — just be sure to do it in a safe way. 

Next, it might be helpful to do a farewell tour of campus. This is going to sound really cheesy, but it just might make the transition easier. Take a walk (or drive) around campus and reflect on all the memories you’ve made at different spots. Maybe you met your best friend in a class in Thompson Hall or played midnight hide-n-seek on Terrell Mall. Maybe you failed an exam in Todd Auditorium and cried to your classmates in the atrium afterward. 

Take stock of all the happy — and some sad — times you’ve had at WSU. You can write notes or take photos and keep them in a scrapbook for years to come. When you inevitably visit in 10 or 20 years for a football game, you can pull out your notes and visit your favorite spots from your “good ‘ol” college days!

Finally, I suggest connecting with your academic adviser or another person from your department to let them know about your future plans. They may reach out if they have a younger student looking for a job or an alumni connection. That would keep you connected to WSU in a small but important way without actually being on campus. Cougs help Cougs, am I right?

I hope this helps!

Emma