When we started classes this fall and all of my professors started syllabus week with the “tell us about yourself” game, I was one of those students who had to tell everyone I was a super senior. I even had one of my professors ask if that was a new term, because she had been hearing it more and more often.

 To be honest, I am ashamed of telling people that I am here for another year. I hate that I didn’t finish in four years, and sometimes it feels like I won’t be as successful as my classmates who did. But my being here for five years is not due to lack of knowledge or lack of trying. I had to sacrifice credit time for work hours, and there doesn’t seem to be enough hours in a day.

 Watching all of my friends graduate last spring was the worst. I wanted to celebrate with them, but all I could keep thinking about was the fact that I wasn’t walking with them. I was going to have to endure another year of crazy professors, all nighters and thousands of group projects without some of my closest friends. How would I ever survive?

 To be honest, I am surprised at the amount of people that are also riding the super senior bus with me. When classes started this fall, I still saw familiar faces, I still have amazing roommates and I still have friends who understand those crazy professors. The increase in students who are here for their victory lap makes me feel welcomed.

 I have always loved SDSU, but I was more nervous for this victory lap than I was for my “Freshman 15”. Why is that?

 Society places me in this age range that says I should be starting an entry-level job, have a serious relationship (maybe even be engaged) and start paying off my student loans. I have none of those things, and it actually took me a long time to get over that. In a generation that has gotten so good at saying, “Screw you, society!,” I was actually getting seriously concerned about my status in life.

 Where am I going? What am I doing? Why am I still in school? If I doubted myself this much, why wouldn’t the people around me?

 After syllabus week and telling all of my classmates that I was indeed a super senior, I began to realize that maybe it’s not so bad. I am here for another year of learning and a detailed focus on what I want to do for the rest of my life. I still don’t have all of the details figured out yet, but I remind myself that going by the seam of your pants isn’t all bad.

 For now, I am just getting used to using the term “super senior” and, maybe later in life, I will have time to figure out what a 401K is.

Brenna Ramsden is an advertising major and can be reached at [email protected]