Senior Reflection: Jenna Ellis

Even though I graduated nearly 2 months ago, it still doesn’t feel real. I’m still trying to convince myself that this isn’t just another closed weekend, and on Sunday afternoon, I’m not going to drive back to Bowling Green and eat at Panda Express with the family I found at my home away from home.

I have spent the last two years at a home where I learned about everything you could possibly think of; I have expanded my knowledge beyond the bounds I thought impossible to reach by learning not only of calculus, computer science, physics, and biology, but of the ethics of dank memes, the importance of Ultimate Frisbee in a daily schedule, the woes of 8 am CPS, and of turning 120 strangers into my family.

It is incredibly difficult to summarize my entire Gatton experience into a single blog post – to be quite honest, I could probably write a book on it at this point – but I will say that it was the single best experience I have had in my entire life. Through every high and low, I was as happy as I had ever been. During the tough weeks where I had three tests on the same day, and the weekends where I had not a worry in the world and I was simply bowling and eating with friends, I knew that I was in the perfect place; I knew that I was at home, and I had the support of a great community and family behind me, and I was going to be happy regardless. That feeling is one that comes with the uniqueness of a place like Gatton. It is one in a million.

Although I had my fears coming into the Academy (am I really smart enough for this, am I going to make good friends, is the food actually decent, etc.), I have now realized that none of them were necessary. I learned, accomplished, researched, laughed, cried, matured, and became passionate for the world I lived in. I figured out that becoming a doctor was not the path for me, but computer science (something I had never heard of before walking into my CS180 class the first day of junior year) and mathematics were actually my thing. I learned that eating Chik-Fil-A everyday was actually disgusting, but drinking three cups of coffee everyday was totally okay. I figured out who I was as a person, and found friends that would support me in any way possible.

With all of my tears shed in the night before, the day of, and the week after (I know, I cry a lot apparently) graduation, I can now confidently (read: without sobbing-ly) say that I miss my gat fam more than anything in the world, but I am so excited to see where the world takes each and every one of us. We are all prepared with the knowledge we gained in the classrooms over the past two years, as well as the lessons we learned and the memories we made in Schneider, Bates, our homes around Kentucky, and on our trips across the world.