With college graduation looming ahead, I’ve realized that I have come full circle since high school. Senior year of high school was undoubtedly one of the greatest and most foolish years of my life, and probably one of the happiest years, too.

People say that college is where you find yourself and where you really come out of your shell. I came out of my shell, and well beyond, sophomore year of high school, and I haven’t hidden since then. I think I can attribute this to the outgoing and bold nature of my personality. At 22 years old, I’ve lived a pretty wild and reckless, yet amazing lifestyle, and I’m not ashamed of it.

My experiences have led me to internalize the line from “Little Miss Sunshine”: “You do what you love, and f*** the rest.” Senior year of high school was when I really started exploiting this. There’s a sort of power that comes with being a senior. I developed the mentality that “I’m a senior, I can do whatever I want and I’m not going to apologize for it.” Granted, this mindset has led me into trouble on occasion, but I can proudly say that I’ve taken risks and capitalized on opportunities that other people might never have, and this had led me to have unparalleled experiences.

So, why I am reminiscing on high school? Because, as a senior in college now, I have resorted back to the same mindset, only heightened.

It’s a little trite to say that I’m taking advantage of my last moments here and living my Trinity life to the fullest, but I would say that I am doing exactly that.

The power that comes from being a senior definitely inflates your ego and distorts your version of reality, so I can’t verify that all my decisions are sound, but I know that I’m doing my senior year right.

I’m viewing my senior status as a free pass to live uninhibited and unburdened by the repercussions that other people might face or care about. I think sometimes we put ourselves in a box and tell ourselves, “No, you can’t do that because other people might judge you for it,” and I’ve spent good portions of my life doing exactly that, so I’ve blown up the box and all of its silly constraints.

We spend so much time second-guessing ourselves and being afraid to take risks, and I’ve just said f*** all of it. You could say I’m getting it out of my system before the real world soon envelops me, but I think it’s something I’ve adapted into my everyday life-just slightly less imprudent”¦but only slightly.

To quote Kendrick Lamar, “Got a high tolerance when your age don’t exist,” so if you think you can keep up, I’ll be at a bar drinking Bloody Marys until commencement.

Elif Yucel is graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese with a minor in economics.