If you’re not already feeling it, you will one day. Some of us have been looking forward to this moment for almost four years. Others of us are in secret dread of what looms afterward. We’ll put on a gown, toss our tassels from one side to the other, walk across the stage, and then what? We came here to get our hard-earned degrees, so employers must be desperate to get our résumés, right?

Healthy: what an excellent word to cloak what I used to hold dear. Although I had never had a close guy-friend before I came to ORU, I never once considered close friendships with guys to be wrong. I strongly adhered to the notion of “strictly platonic friendships” and would vehemently defend my position at every challenge. After all, I genuinely felt nothing for my best friend and he had a girlfriend. What could be safer than that?

Then came the day when I discerned between physical and emotional promiscuity: I felt a twinge of jealousy for his girlfriend.

Someone recently confided that she struggled with “low self-esteem.” I wanted to give her a high five and congratulate her, literally. Some people have this massive self-esteem that seems to suffocate everyone around them but them. It’s impressive, really. Other people have such low self-esteem that they hide from others and then isolate themselves either behind a façade or behind physical barriers, such as their dorm rooms. Sometimes it’s cloaked in perfectionism.

Chelsea Kimbrough’s column will be substituted this edition by Brenda Richards. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in business management with a minor in human resources, and is currently pursuing a nursing degree.

When I first started my nursing degree, I suspected that I would be in the minority. Not only was I over 30 years old. I was also happily married, had already experienced a few different careers, and completed a B.S. in business management. So when I attempted to blend in with this completely new college lifestyle, what surprised me the most were the same questions I would get about the same subject: marriage.