Long River Review

Four years of college. You’d think I’d be sick of this place.

The truth is: I am quite sick of a few things. My freshman year consisted of not one single night of restful sleep. You can ascribe this to noisy drunks galloping up and down the halls, screaming at all hours of the night and morning, or to pranksters who religiously pulled the fire alarm at three a.m. every day of the week. It got to the point where I don’t even evacuate the building anymore. I’m sick of PeopleSoft. I don’t think I had a trouble-free course sign-up until my last semester. I definitely won’t miss the unruly weather. There’s something about having to pedal down the steepest slope on campus due to furious up-sweeping winds that just rubs you the wrong way (pun absolutely unintended). Yesterday I was shoved all the way home from work by the raging winds. If I were fifteen pounds lighter, I probably could have just leapt into the air and taken wing. And I promise I won’t miss having my bicycles stolen—twice, despite being locked up tight.

But let me tell you what I will miss.

I will miss my Red Cross meetings. I’ve been attending since my freshman year and, while I had neither the time nor the courage to help out much for the first few years, I’ve formed a sort of family with the other members in my last few semesters here. I’ve learned so much from them—not just about the Red Cross, but also about working on a team and pulling off tremendous accomplishments in very little time with very little resources. We’ve achieved so many great things for so many people in need. I’m not sure there’s a better feeling in the world.

I will miss the Roper Center where I have been employed for the last four years. I didn’t realize how much of an impact it had on me until I was facing my last two weeks. This was my first real, steady job. It gave me a tremendous amount of experience and helped me find my footing in a business capacity. It won’t be easy to leave.

I will miss my friends and being a ten minute walk away from any one of them. So much of who I am today is credited to my friends. They’ve gotten me through some of my ugliest times. I don’t imagine I would have made it through four years of college without them. They helped me out when I was desperate, and they introduced me to new interests that have stuck with me all this time. I’m sure I will still see them from time to time, but having everyone in one place just made things so comfortable.

But most of all, I will miss my professors who have given me so much guidance over the last four years. I have done some of my most inspired work for some of them, and I will never forget the important lessons they’ve taught me. They’ve shown me how to hone my skills and be an active and engaged reader. They have shown me that it’s okay to disagree or come at a topic from a different angle than someone else. They have mentored me and shown real compassion for my needs as a struggling student. Most importantly, they have taught me to have the courage to write. I never had the confidence in myself to write what was on my heart, but my professors have shown me how to tap that reservoir and channel my creative impulses through a meaningful outlet. I attribute so much of my success to them, and if I amount to anything in my Life After Graduation, I owe it entirely to them.

So thank you, UConn, for introducing me to so many new opportunities, for accelerating my development as an aspiring author and editor, and for inspiring in me talents and aspirations that I didn’t even know existed. I’m really going to miss this place.

And I’ll bet you thought my last blog post was going to be about the misunderstanding and misuse of the terms envy, jealousy, and rivalry, didn’t you?