Like many, my senior year is ending in a way I could have never imagined.
Ever since August, I’ve been dreading May.
I didn’t want to leave the place I’ve called home for the past 4 years.
But I knew it was coming.
With almost everything I did, I would think to myself, “I can’t believe this is the last time.”
The last first day of classes in the fall, the last time I would be moving into my house on White Street, my last Delta Phi Epsilon banquet, my last Fred Fest… the list goes on.
I was looking forward to my alumni induction ceremony, my graduation.
They were going to be my ways to say goodbye to the special people I’ve met along the way.
You see, at first I didn’t understand the severity of COVID-19.
The day we were told the governor was shutting down campus, I didn’t realize the rest of the state would be shut down too.
I thought I was still going to get all of my lasts, but I’m not.
At first, that was a hard pill to swallow.
But in a time where the “new normal” is the farthest thing from normal, I’ve realized one thing has stayed the same.
No matter what I’m doing, my group chat is always still buzzing.
My friends are still sending me games requests, memes and other posts online to check out.
They’re still FaceTiming me every day, asking how I’m doing and how my finals are.
The people I’ve met over the past four years are still around, and they’re not going anywhere.
As I think about it more and more, I wasn’t actually looking forward to any of my lasts.
Was I looking forward to graduating and leaving Fredonia? Obviously not.
What I was looking forward to, however, was making these memories with the people who mean so much to me.
The people who have encouraged me, supported me and helped me grow into the person I am today.
I’m a firm believer in the saying, “You’re only as good as the people you have around you.”
I’m lucky enough to say that I have some pretty spectacular people.
So yes, maybe I’m not getting any of my lasts.
But my friends and I have a lifetime to make more memories.
