The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/28/06 Section: Life & Times

Media Credit: Courtesy of Rollins College Archives BOAT PARTY: Seniors should take advice from this group in 1889, and party on the lake before graduating!

For all you seniors, the ride has finally come to an end. Your four years (or five depending on your motivation level) are culminating into a graduation ceremony where your hard work and almost $160,000 have paid off. So now that it is all said and done what should you do with your precious little time that you have left as a senior and before the corporate world, internships, and graduate school eat you alive? Here are a few ideas...

Spend quality time with the friends who quickly became your family. Go out to dinner, take some pictures, and go to the beach. Whatever it is that you love to do, do it with them, because you never know when you will see them again and telephone conversations just aren't the same. Plan a party, throw some burgers onto the grill and get all those people over for one last fiesta.

If you are leaving Florida, make sure you see all the sights because you may never come back. According to the visitflorida.com website, there are 1100 miles of beaches in this state, so take advantage. Go beyond Coco and check out something new. The Keyes are famed for their beaches, but there are plenty of other options to check out. The Best Beach for Feet is the beaches of South Walton, because the sand is almost pure quartz washed down from the Appalachian Mountains over years of time. Or get your friends together and go treasure hunting in Vero Beach, where a Spanish shipping fleet cracked open on the reef leaving all sorts of hidden treasure waiting to be uncovered. There's also an array of zoos and aquariums throughout Florida, from the Flamingo Gardens in Fort Lauderdale to the Green Meadows Petting Farm in Kissimmee. There is also the fair going on in Orlando, which is a fun place to go on rides, eating junk food and play games without the costs of Disneyworld.

Try to stay up late and sleep in all afternoon, because pretty soon only the weekends will hold that luxury for you. Go swimming in the lake, even if there might be alligators, streaking in the quad (or Mills Lawn) because before you know it you will be looking at nice little Saturdays with your significant other and you might just not have time. Go to the bars and the clubs and the coffee shops that you have always wanted to check out but you got into your niche here in Orlando and you have not changed your routine in years.

But most importantly, make sure you fit in time to do your homework, finish up those papers and study hard for your finals. It would be heinous to be all pumped up for your graduation only to find out that you blew it in these last few weeks. So although it is important to play hard, make sure you have time to work hard as well, because you still have that one week of freedom after finals but before graduation where you still are technically in college. So relax, take a deep breathe and say hello to your future as you say good bye to the past.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools