print(“Hello world!”)

I am a senior at Carnegie Mellon University, and like every crop of soon-to-be graduates, I am preparing to shift my life once again from the comfortable and familiar environment of my last four years to a whole new world of career development and advanced adulting. It sometimes feels like a lifetime has passed since I left high school and home behind to explore independence and take on new and stimulating challenges mentally, physically, and emotionally at uni. Other times it feels like a momentary flash of light, gone before I really had a chance to see it, as I look back at the new friends I made from all over and the new ideas and opportunities I have experienced. In some ways, it feels like I have only just now grokked the university experience, even though I’m on my way out.

When CMU interviewed me and asked me why I wanted to come here, I looked down the conference table at my mom, who had driven me from California to be here, and said “Bye Mom!” It was my declaration of independence, and when I finally arrived at CMU on that cold January night all by myself to check into my dorm during lockdown in 2021 (since COVID delayed my first term on campus), it was the start of a new experience for me. A time to check that I had everything I needed to have to make a successful run at university, both in terms of intellectual and academic skills as well as social and emotional preparations. Soon, in fact on Mother’s Day of 2024, I will be preparing to launch my self anew, and once again say “Hello World!” and “Hey Mom, I did it!”

Remember when drive-thru graduation was a thing?

Here is a link to a cool article on the origins of Hello World! https://dev.to/just5moreminutes/why-hello-world-5c0g

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