The fifth year changed my life.

Of course, each year of my college career shaped me in one way or another. There were milestones after milestones of growth and discovery.

In the first four years, I said good-bye to the ignorance of adolescence and refused to embrace the pessimism of adulthood. I enjoyed my first real, adult-ish, serious relationship. We went on dates and celebrated anniversaries and bickered over the silliest of things. I left the nest and learned to live on my own and in Europe.

Jimmy Cheek probably wouldn’t approve this message. He and his squad encourage every student to meet checkpoints so that they don’t turn out like me: a fifth year senior. We waste time and resources, and a four year graduation rate makes UT look good. I get it.

But it was the fifth and final year that shaped me the most.

Instead of graduating in 2014 — four years after I started — I hugged my friends and parents and went off to study in The Netherlands for five months.

Everyone always says studying abroad is the best thing you can do in college. They aren’t wrong. That adventure instilled a passion for travel and a serious curiosity for new cultures. I saw 15 countries in six months. Talk about culture shock. Not to mention most of the time I traveled by myself, which helped me learn to be comfortable spending time alone.

As an extrovert, my energy and inspiration comes from others. I need people around me to feel like myself, which has the potential to be dangerous. It never occurred to me that I could enjoy my own company, but when you’re sitting on a train for five hours, surrounded by strangers who speak another language, you learn to be satisfied with your thoughts.

I returned to the U.S. the day before my boss expected me to be in Knoxville, ready for a new job. I had less than 24 hours to spend time with my family and pack up my car. That was a chaotic day, and that chaos carried me through the whirlwind that was my fifth year of college.

It was time for a victory lap.

I worked a third and final year as a resident assistant and was ranked the number one RA in Massey by my residents. We’re talking official end-of-the-year survey numbers, not just “Oh, Hannah, you’re the coolest.”

I spent an alarming amount of time in the Daily Beacon office, never once wanting to leave. Unless I was headed to a concert or football game for a photo assignment, but even then, I hurried back. My coworkers were inspiring and witty and willing to work relentlessly. I admired all of them.

I sat in classrooms and learned about photography, magazines and prehistoric art. I surprisingly enjoyed my economics class and made good grades all around.

All of those things were great, but the most important part of my fifth year of college was joining UT’s chapter of Food Recovery Network. Let me be frank in saying that I was not the most valuable member. My availability to volunteer was limited, and the leaders were surprised when I tagged along to the Food Waste and Hunger Summit in April.

That conference is the reason I found a job after graduation. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I found my calling that weekend. There are efforts across the country fighting food waste and hunger, and Food Recovery Network is a leader in that movement. I get to spend every day working with students who are making a difference in their communities.

A fifth year might not be right for you, and that’s okay. But it was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Hannah Cather is a Member Support Fellow for the Food Recovery Network in Washington D.C., and she graduated from UT in May 2015.