Letting her go was the hardest thing I've ever had to do....

5. Elle

Hey lovelies,

As always - if you think it deserves it. Show it some love.

Thank you to those who have loved it from the start.

AliciaRuby90 xx

Elle POV

'Rochelle Evans. Master of Interactive Game Design'

I heard the cheers from the crowd as I adjusted the hat on my head and walked across the stage, towards my diploma. This was it. The last four years were over and today was my last day at USC, before I headed out into the world and begin my career in game design.

'Congratulations!' Sarah, the head of the department, said as she passed me my Diploma and squeezing my hand briefly. 'Well done Elle!'

'Thank you!', I smiled as I gave the crowd a quick wave and then headed back to my seat, as the rest of the students began to mill through. I took a deep breath as I gripped my diploma in my hand. I was super proud of myself.

Thinking back to four year ago, when Harvard and Berkley were both preferences and I had to choose where to go....along with a whole bunch of other things. To now, I was a graduate of USC and had several job offers to choose from. Most were allowing me the summer to choose before beginning with their company's in the fall. Some were smaller companies that allowed me a lot of creative freedom, some were bigger companies that had deals with some of the largest video game designers around the world. Most were eager to meet with me, and after glowing recommendations from my teachers and viewings of pitches, I was in their sights.

LA would always be home, but I also wanted the opportunity to travel. I wanted to be able to travel to different parts of the globe that would allow me to broaden my creativity but also delve into the gaming market some more.

I knew I would have to make a choice, only this time it wasn't like last time. I didn't have anybody holding me back and my choice wasn't for anyone bar me. I was definitely on the path to figuring out who I was.

There were days we're I thought about him more than others, there were some days and weeks where I didn't even think about him at all.

The last time I had seen him was at Dad and Linda's wedding and that had been two years ago and before that it had been Christmas. I guess someone in the universe decided to give us a very real break, because any function I was at, after that he wasn't or vice versa. It didn't really bother me anymore. If he was asking about me, I knew that Lee was filling him in on what I was up to. Lee let me know when he graduated and that he too had various job offers from firms around the country. We were still friends and for that I was grateful.

My phone vibrated from my robe pocket and I smiled at the numerous texts that I had received all in the last five minutes. Even though it was just my family at the ceremony, clearly Dad had sent around a photo to my nearest and dearest.

Congrats bestie! So so so proud of you. Can't wait to celebrate with you when I'm back in town - FINALLY - next week. Love you. Call you later to hear all about it. Lee x

Congratulations Elle! You look so happy! Can't wait to hear all about it when we catch up next week. Rach x

Congratulations Elle! We are so proud of all your achievements and for following your passion. We know there are great things inshore for you for your very bright future. We love you and can't wait to see you. Love always, June and Matthew. xxx

The ceremony finally concluded, and I hugged, cried and laughed with so many people. My amazing group of friends and I managed to get one last selfie together and it showed, just how happy we were. The smiles on our faces were so big and there was relief in our eyes that we had actually survived the last couple of months. I would miss these people. People come into our lives, these people became part of my USC experience and I didn't know what the future would hold but I hoped that maybe I would be able to work and collaborate with them in the near future.