It's the time of the year when many seniors are starting to see a ray of light at the end of the tunnel.
Four years have come and gone, and seniors are asking themselves "now what?"
For some, the next step after graduation may be furthering their education, traveling or, for the lucky ones, landing a dream job.
"After graduation I plan on moving back home and living with my parents and attending graduate school for my master's degree in elementary education," said Laura Elliott, majoring in human development and family studies with a concentration in infant to pre-school ages.
Many hope living with their parents will be a successful way to help them save some money.
Elliott said she is excited about graduation but sad about leaving Auburn and her friends.
"Auburn has been my home for the last four years, so it's going to be weird not living here anymore," Elliott said. "Also, there couldn't be a worse time than now to graduate, with the economic situation we're in and no one hiring."
Amanda Ferguson, an animal science major, said she is also excited about graduation.
Seniors agree graduation is a culmination of all the hard work they have put into school over the past four years and now they have their entire lives ahead of them.
For Ferguson, however, this milestone is not the end of her college career.
In March, she was accepted by Auburn's College of Veterinary Medicine.
"While a lot of people look to graduation as an end to boring school work, as a future student in the College of Veterinary Medicine, I will be gearing up for a much higher magnitude of difficulty in my life," Ferguson said.
Ferguson said she hopes to one day, after receiving her Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine degree, work in a mixed-animal practice and eventually work toward a goal of owning her own practice after a few years of experience.
Jessica Deloach, a secondary mathematics education major, said she feels accomplished about finishing college and earning a degree.
"I feel like I have earned a degree, and I am ready to actually have one," Deloach said. "Since I am going to graduate school, I don't really have to be sad about leaving Auburn or being completely done with the 'college' experience."
Deloach said she feels Auburn has prepared her for a career as much as possible.
"There are very few majors at Auburn that would be considered easy," Deloach said. "Every different college and program at Auburn is very thorough and requires a lot of work and dedication. I feel like I am as prepared as I could possibly be by school. I know I will still be constantly learning once I get into the classroom. My internship was an irreplaceable learning experience."
Deloach said she hopes to someday work in a middle school or high school in Georgia or Alabama teaching math.
She will begin graduate school immediately following graduation.
Ferguson said overall she feels her Auburn experience has had a positive impact on her life in ways beyond academics.
"Four years of involvement on campus, holding leadership positions, meeting new people and dealing with things without my parents has changed me," Ferguson said. "While I am still the same person I always was, you could say I am a much wiser person about life in general."
Many students agree a lot of people don't realize how much of a different person they become by living away from home and having an independent life.
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