Keira
The morning of graduation arrived bright and warm, the kind of perfect spring day that felt almost too fitting for the occasion, sunlight streaming through my dorm room window as I stood in front of the mirror adjusting my cap for what felt like the tenth time.
"You look perfect," my mother said, appearing in the doorway, her eyes already glassy with the kind of pride she'd been carrying for weeks now. "I still can't believe this day is actually here."
"Neither can I." I smoothed down my gown, nerves and excitement tangling together in my chest. "Four years. It feels like it went by in half that time and twice as long, somehow, both at once."
"That's what the important years always feel like." She straightened my tassel gently, the same careful, maternal attention she'd given me
