For the graduating class of May 2009 the end is closer than it’s ever been before. You probably already went though your high school graduation, but after a short summer, it was back to school. Once in college, you started the education process all over again. Only this time, things got harder.

Fast forward a few years later, and unless you’ve opted for grad school then this really is the end. Scary, right? I mean it’s all you’ve ever known. School, school and more school. Hundreds of tests. Thousands of grades. Teachers and professors you loved and hated. But now, in just a few weeks, it will all be over.

There will be a nice fireworks display (weather permitting) at commencement. You’ll get to hear the speaker, David McCullough, talk about the future that awaits you. The next day, you’ll put on your cap, gown and other regalia and wait until someone calls your name at your college’s convocation. You’ll walk across the stage and receive a handshake and a diploma holder. Your family will cheer, and you might feel a sense of relief, but that’s it. The whole scene seems a little anticlimactic.

“I’m not really excited about it,” says JoAnn Garcia, multidisciplinary studies senior. “I don’t really feel like it matches the accomplishment. I mean, I don’t even get my degree. So [the ceremonies are] definitely not the exciting part about graduation.”

But Garcia says she’s not participating for herself. She says it’s really more for her family to enjoy. And although she’s proud of her accomplishments, Garcia says there were times when she questioned being at OU.

“There were definitely times when I thought, ‘good God what am I doing here?’” she says. “But I would just talk to my dad or call a friend when I was upset. They reminded me what I was doing here.”

Now, with graduation just weeks away she says she is glad she had people around her to push her to finish.

Jeff Smith, multidisciplinary studies senior, says he also struggled with feeling overwhelmed by all of the school pressures. He says that all the work was a lot to deal with, but he is also glad he went through it.

“I now have much better opportunities than I would have had I not been in college,” Smith says. “I had some of my best times here, and I’ve met some of my best friends here. I don’t think I would know anyone if it weren’t for college.”

But unfortunately this isn’t the end of the road for some seniors. Some are taking that next big leap into graduate school because they want to fine-tune their experience.

“I was really excited about graduation, but it doesn’t really feel like I’m moving on,” says Jenna Negley, microbiology senior. “I’m going to PA school.”

Negley says that she’s OK with staying in school because of the current job market, but she thinks continuing her education takes away from the excitement of the graduation ceremonies. But she says she’s still glad she made it this far, and she thinks that getting a graduate degree will only help her in the future.

Despite the ups and downs of college, many students agree that the graduation process is well worth the wait.

“I know that they’ll have to mail my diploma later,” Garcia says. “But it’s definitely worth the wait. I worked hard for this.”