With seniors finishing up their last few weeks here at Alabama, we took a trip down memory lane with a few professors to find out what their experience was like when they were students here.

Kelsey Guy is an Italian instructor in the Department of Modern Languages. She has taught at the University for two years so far, working part time last year and full time this year. Guy attended the University of Alabama for her undergraduate degree from 2009 to 2013. While here, Guy studied biology as her major and Italian as her minor. In the last few months of her time here she realized that biology wasn’t for her and that she should focus more on her passion for language, so she went to FSU to get her Master’s Degree in Italian, before coming back here to Alabama to teach.

Here’s what she had to say about her experience as a graduating senior:

What was your favorite part about being here at Alabama as a student?

One of my favorite parts was the study abroad trip that I took. That was such an awesome experience and I really loved that. I remember not wanting to come home.

How did you end up back here to teach?

“I kept in contact with my old Italian professors … It’s a small department so they tend to keep up with people who go on … into graduate studies into Italian … We emailed back and forth … and one of the emails I sent was that I was about to graduate and would have my master’s, so one of my old professors, who was the head of the Italian department asked me to come by for a visit … She and I met for coffee and it was kind of like an informal interview … Then like a week after I graduated I got an email from her asking, ‘Hey, would you still like to come back and teach with us?’”

How was the transition from former student to co-worker?

“It was weird. I was working alongside the professors that I had when I was a student. So yes, that part was definitely awkward at first … I was collaborating with them instead of doing things for them and turning things into them.”

What were you most excited about when you were getting ready to graduate from Alabama?

“I was really excited about taking that next step into adulthood. It was kinda scary but I knew I was moving to a different place and going to see a new university … and I was just excited about that whole new adventure … and I was excited to switch into Italian. I really knew that was what I wanted to do at that point. It was a scary experience to switch like that but I was really looking forward to [it].”

What did you think you were going to miss the most?

“I had a lot of friends here that I had made relationships with and part of [what I was going to miss] was just leaving my comfort zone and leaving the people that I knew and that I was comfortable with and leaving the surroundings I was comfortable with … [The University] felt like a second home and it was hard to leave because of that.”

What would you tell your senior self about graduating if you could?

“Not to worry so much. I stressed out over a lot of little things that I didn’t need to stress out over. At that point I was really worried that I wasn’t going to be able to make this my career. I was worried that I didn’t have enough Italian background; I didn’t have Italian family; this was not a field where I belonged … but I would tell myself not to worry so much about it, ‘You’ll settle in and you’ll eventually really love what you do.’”

What would you tell seniors who are graduating in a couple weeks?

“Really work as hard as you can not to let opportunities pass by … Try to control the things you can, but some things are out of your control and you can’t stress over those things because there’s nothing you can do about it … Do everything you can to apply for jobs or graduate schools or whatever it may be, but … you can’t stress over getting accepted because at that point it’s out of your control. There’s nothing you can do. Do the best you can with the things you have control over, and the things you don’t, don’t let it stress you out or ruin your life or anything … That stress is so much more detrimental than it is helpful.”

2000’s facts:

Popular artists: Rihanna, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Mariah Carey

President: Barack Obama

Lisa McKinney has been an accounting and tax professor here for almost 14 years. She attended UA for both her undergrad and her master’s degree in the early 90’s, then went on to work in public accounting and tax consulting before coming back to Tuscaloosa to teach.

Here’s what her experience was like as a graduating senior:

Was it different to transition from being a student to being a faculty member when you came back to campus?

I was pretty young when I [came back], so it wasn’t as hard. If I came back now it would be weird. But I loved the energy and I loved the excitement … I knew it was different now that I was teaching but I still felt a part of it.”

What was the biggest difference from how the University was when you went here versus how it is now?

“The out-of-state [percentage]. That has been the best and neatest thing. I know some people don’t feel good about that and wish it was more of an Alabama school, but watching that over the last 25 years. The majority of the people who went here 25 years ago were from Alabama … so that’s what I love the most … I love that diversity of people, it makes this so much more fun … I love that we’ve become that kind of a school … Then of course the tuition was … $900 a semester … that was nothing … it’s a lot more expensive now.”

When you were getting ready to graduate what were you most excited about?

“The possibilities of where I could go. The fact that I could add value somewhere, that I would be able to do something that people valued … I knew it was time, now I get to go out and experience it. When you get in school you get sick of just studying about doing something and now you want to do it.”

What did you think you were going to miss heading into leaving?

“I knew life got a lot more serious. I knew you had to buckle down and you have to get up early and things get more serious, but the good to me outweighed the bad.”

If you could go back and tell your graduating self something, what would you tell her?

“Don’t date those guys! … and lighten up. That’s another thing I would tell myself, because now I can laugh at some things. I took myself way too seriously and I’d get worried about what other people thought. I’ve realized that as long as you feel good about what you’re doing, you know it’s the right thing.”

What would you tell students graduating in a couple weeks?

“The key, in my opinion, to a happy life is to find a place where you’re adding value and providing service to others. When you’re doing for others and you’re doing something they value, I think most people are at their happiest … The majority of people that are really happy people provide service to other people and they’re valuable and they’re the happiest people I know.”

Anything else to add to tell the seniors?

“Just make sure to treat other people well … and remember what really matters. Because all the stuff that doesn’t matter fades away and if you build a life on that stuff you’re going to be really disappointed … Find the things that are meaningful, whether it’s family, friends or service … that’s going to create your happy life, none of the other things ever will.”

90’s Facts:

Popular bands: Nirvana, Creed, Pearl Jam, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day

Presidents: George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton

Popular new movies: Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, The Lion King,