Two years ago, you started at Illinois Valley Community College. You started with a goal in mind, or maybe you started hoping you’d find your goal hidden in the depths of the halls.

Before you know it you’ve made friends, found your goal, and finally it is time to graduate. You’ve prepared yourself for this day…or have you? Soon you panic: you thought you were ready for this day, but you weren’t. How can you possibly prepare yourself for this?

You are leaving everything behind for, hopefully, bigger and better things. There is one thing you can’t replace though — your friends and the good times you had together.

There’s a lot of ways you can get over this panic, but I think one of the best ways is to think on the bright side. You aren’t losing your friends, or memories, you are making new ones. Graduation is a very scary experience, but it is also a life changing one. There is honestly nothing to be scared of, just new things to look forward to.

Not only do you have to prepare yourself, which can be hard, but you also have to go through and make sure that you meet graduation requirements.

You can do this by going and seeing a counselor or going to the record and admissions office to request a transcript evaluation. It is probably best to do this the semester before you graduate rather than the semester you plan on graduating — that way you can prepare wisely for your last semester. After you find out what classes you need to take to graduate and sign up for them, you need to think of things to prepare for in your final semester.

At the beginning of the semester you should fill out a graduation application. You can get this application in the records and admission office. If you are having trouble preparing for graduation there is graduation tables towards the beginning of the semester.

This semester IVCC will be having a graduation table Jan. 31 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. This table will help you apply for graduation and help you order your caps and gowns. It will also help you with anything special you need for honor programs like Phi Theta Kappa.
One of the biggest things I can stress is to get involved, especially in your last semester. Do activities you thought you’d never do, join clubs, and just have fun and make memories.

Lastly, the most important thing to look out for is deadlines!
The deadline to apply for spring graduation is Feb. 15, so be sure to apply before then if you plan on graduating this semester!