This essay reflects on the bittersweet feeling of leaving college and stepping into the uncertainty of adulthood. It explores how ordinary moments become meaningful once they begin to end. Through the metaphor of Mondays, it reminds us that life always gives us another chance to begin again.

This essay matters because many young people feel pressure to have their lives figured out when they leave college. It reminds readers that uncertainty and change are normal parts of growing up. By reflecting on small moments and endings, it encourages people to embrace new beginnings. 

There will always be another Monday

I have always hated Mondays. I dread Sundays because Monday comes along. But this week I did not feel the same way, because it is my last week of college and I am feeling everything and nothing at the same time.

Sometimes I ask myself why humans feel so much pain in change, or why it is so hard for us to adapt to something new. Can we not just accept it with open arms? But I remind myself that maybe that is the beauty of being human – caring about moments and feeling them deeply. They say if you worry about the moments, it means those moments meant something to you.

Just like how I will miss college one day because it is getting over. I will miss my lunch breaks, my favourite corner, my favourite coffee shop, and everything in between.

I attended my last fest recently. I remember telling myself that maybe I will come back to it next year. But will I come back? And even if I do, will it feel the same way all over again?

I think I also hated Mondays because of my 8:30 lectures and the start of a whole new week. Waking up early, rushing to class, and trying to stay awake through lectures felt exhausting at the time.

I still remember the first time I entered my favourite coffee shop near my college and ordered a vanilla iced latte, and now it has become my favourite coffee. I know I will miss it, and I know I will not recreate it because no matter how much I recreate it, it will not taste the way it tasted before. Maybe it was never just about the coffee. Maybe it was about the place, the people, and the moments attached to it.

I have always wondered what I will miss the most about college. I think it is not the big moments. I think it is an ordinary day at college, a regular day where I go, attend all my classes, get my attendance, and come back home. That is all.

I remember turning twenty shook me a little. I was scared, but eventually I figured it out. I remember capturing every little moment because I was scared of losing it, just like how I am scared of losing my college days now. I remember asking my friend how twenty was treating her, and she said, “Hard.” Then she smiled and said, “Don’t worry, it will treat you nicely because you will romanticise it.” Maybe she is right. Maybe I will romanticise my twenties because I know when I turn old and grey, these memories will help bring back my happiness.

I remember adding attending my first solo concert to my vision board, and I accomplished it this year. It felt liberating doing something I had always wished for.

I remember being naive when I first entered college. I did not really care about much in the world. But eventually I learned a lot. I remember looking at people sitting alone during lunch or doing things by themselves and thinking how strange it looked. Initially I thought it was silly and people would laugh at me if I did that. But eventually I learned how cool it is to sit alone and do your own thing. It feels liberating.

I remember the first friend I made in college. At that time I thought we were going to be friends forever. But it turns out you do not stay friends with everyone forever. Sometimes you outgrow people, and that is okay. They still remain a part of your life and your memories.

Just the way Monday will always remain a part of the week. You cannot escape it.

I remember my lecturer coming into class and telling us that this was our last lecture together. I did not know how I felt – sad, happy, or excited. It felt like everything and nothing at all.

People often talk about how they would go back to their past and change something. But if you changed something in your past, everything you are doing right now would also change. Maybe some of the things you have today would not exist at all. So stop thinking about it too much, just like the way you do not think about Monday on a Saturday.

I do not know what is in store for me next, but whatever it is, I know it will be good. Maybe not immediately, maybe not in the way I imagine it now, but eventually it will be. Because it has to be.

Life has a strange way of unfolding when you least expect it. Sometimes the things you worry about the most slowly turn into the very things that shape you. Maybe that is what growing up is: trusting that even the uncertain parts of life will lead you somewhere meaningful.

Maybe life never really pauses for us to feel ready. It just keeps moving, asking us to grow along with it. Maybe that is not something to be afraid of. Maybe it is simply part of the journey.

Because no matter what happens next, you will always have yourself and a Monday to come back to.