So this is real. We’re actually graduating.

It’s no longer the first day of freshman year when we felt like we had so much time left in this place with so many opportunities to try, and friends to make.

It’s not midnight on a Saturday during sophomore year, when we realized we truly felt at home.

It’s no longer the first day of junior year when we were halfway done, with halfway left to go.

And it’s not even the first day of senior year when everyone asked how it felt to be so close to graduation.

It’s the end of April, we have less than one month of school left, and simple words don’t do the feeling justice.

It hasn’t sunk in that in a month I won’t wake up in this room in Castleton Hall, snooze my alarm, and hear my roommate get back from her 8 a.m. class.

In a month I won’t text my friends and ask if they want to get dinner in Huden at 6, and then Fireside at 9, because dinner wasn’t filling enough.

In a month I won’t just take a walk on the rail trail to de-stress, or go to the box office to hang out because I had time in between classes.

In a month I won’t attend the Spartan meetings at 1 on Wednesday, where I see Jimmy, and Jadie and the other Spartan writers, the way I have every Wednesday for the last three years.

I won’t have jazz band either.

In a month my social media will say “studied at Castleton University,” rather than studies.

And in a month, this place where I found a passion, best friends and love, will not be my home anymore.

But I’m excited.

I’ve been in school for 18 years of my life now, and although I’m scared of the unknown, I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

To all of my friends, you helped me get to where I am. Through the happy days and the rough ones, you were there to get dinner, watch “Young and Hungry” or “Friends,” and just be there.

To Dave, you helped me realize a passion, and without you taking a chance on me and letting me write those first stories, or inviting me to New York for the media convention, or asking me to become editor, I would not be where I am today.

And to Ashley, you were like a second mom to me at times. You were there when I was homesick freshman year, there to support me and listen to me vent whenever, no matter what other things are going on in your life. I can’t thank you enough.

It still hasn’t sunk in, and I’m not sure when it will.

But whether I feel it or not, this is real, we’re graduating.