I have spent some time contemplating how I wanted to end my writing career for The Daily Mississippian.
I had friends suggest that I write a column for my fellow graduates, similar to my letter to the freshmen from last fall. Others recommended that I simply reminisce about my time being employed by the student newspaper.
Ole Miss has provided me with a number of experiences that I will never forget. Most of those experiences have been great. Some have not.
I have had professors who I swear are the best of any college in the world. I have had others that appeared as though they did not even care to learn my name.
I have taken courses filled with material that I will hold on to and use throughout my professional career. I have had others that I do not even remember taking, much less the information that was taught.
I wrote paper after paper for some of my classes. I wrote my name on a single test in others.
I have had classmates with whom I forged great friendships. I have had others that may only remember me as that guy who had to sit in the top right corner, if they remember me at all.
I have had days where I sat in the Grove on fresh green grass under the sun. I have had others where I nearly lost my umbrella and wound up soaking wet.
I joined organizations in which I was extremely active, even entering leadership roles. I joined others that never even contacted me or hosted a meeting.
I had a unique experience here at Ole Miss.
I may never find anyone else that took the exact same courses, joined the exact same organizations and enjoyed the exact same things. However, I know that just about everyone can likely relate to the experiences written above.
For those of you who are finishing your final classes, I encourage you to remember what brought you here in the first place and what got you to where you are today. Take care not to forget what has made you who you are.
For those of you who still have one or ten semesters to go, I encourage you to really take in the experiences you have had and will have while you are here. Do not let them pass you by.
Ole Miss is here for each of you to get the most out of her that you can. She is here for you to make your own, different from the person beside you.
We do not love Ole Miss because it is the same for everyone. We love Ole Miss because it was individually perfect for each of us.
I write this as I approach a time when I must regretfully terminate my tenure at The University of Mississippi, but I know that I will never truly graduate from Ole Miss.
Trenton Winford is a senior public policy leadership major from Madison.
