Real Life, by Sheila Taylor
Friday, May 14, 2004

One last goodbye...

Well, I guess this it...my last goodbye. What can I say? It's been a great year, and nothing even compares to my 4-year experience at Lewis & Clark. Like any school, it had it's stressful moments (as you have all read about over this past year, since I seem to have had more of them this year than normal), but all in all, I can't say that I have regretted anything about my time at L&C. You know, originally, as a graduating senior in high school, I was all set to go to Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon. You know, the big state university - go Beavers! But as fate would have it, I ended up at Lewis & Clark, and I can't imagine a better school for me. At around 1600 students, L&C is smaller than my high school; you can walk to any point on campus from any other point on campus within 10 minutes. Even professors that you have never had a class with, or those that you haven't encountered since your freshman year know your name, and some of them even remember your career goals. Random people that you never thought you'd see again show up at your graduation ceremony, because somehow or another, they've maintained some sort of tie with this school, where we've all shared countless memories and discovered new things about ourselves and surroundings. I know it's kind of sappy, but I'm going to miss this place. Especially the people that I interacted with on a daily basis - my friends, my fellow Platt-Howard RAs and my fantastic RD, my professors. Leaving college is so different from leaving high school. When your friends leave high school, you pretty much know that you will all return to your "home" at some time - probably every summer. But with college, everyone leaves school to go back to "home" or to go out into the world to find jobs or study for a master's degree, etc. You never know when or where you might meet up again. I've had a hard time with this, so it's been very important for me to actually say goodbye to each of my friends and professors, etc, to tell them how much they've meant to me in the time that I've known them. I'm trying to leave things open, and say that I'll try to come back and see everyone, but who knows what's in the cards for the future? Honestly, I have no idea when I may see these people again. But I guess that comes with the territory...the end of senior year is just absolutely chaotic, and no matter how you try, you always miss a few people to say goodbye to, you miss a couple of deadlines, and next thing you know, you're graduated, and it doesn't feel any different than any other summer break, once it's all said and done.

Well anyway, I'm babbling...I'm good at that sometimes... It's been fun writing for Real Life. I hope that you all have enjoyed it to some extent, and that the information that each of us has provided has been useful. Thanks for reading!

Have a great summer, everyone!!

:o) Sheila