I started packing up my dorm room today. Such a bittersweet thing! I still have one and a half weeks of classes left and one week of finals, but my parents are coming this coming week for a ceremony, so I figured I’d start packing so they could take things home. I went through my desk, dresser, and wardrobe, pulling out anything I know I won’t need in the next three weeks. About 1/2 to 3/4 of my clothes and 1/2 my desk are now packed away. I have two great shelves attached to my desk and which have been full of books, journals, picture frames, and little items that make me smile. I don’t really need them in the next two weeks, so they were among the things I packed. There are still a couple of things, but it looks so empty and lonely now!
I have to admit, this is the first time my graduating and leaving Elmira College forever has felt truly real to me. I know it’s coming, and I even have a countdown (20 days left, in case you were wondering), but it just hasn’t sunk in yet. I’m not sure it will fully sink in until I drive away that one last time. I have enjoyed four great years here, and there is a lot I will miss about the “purple bubble”, as we lovingly (well, somewhat lovingly) refer to our college, due to the fact that EVERYTHING is purple. I’ll miss the people I’ve met, the beautiful campus, the professors that truly care about their students, and living right down the hall from my friends. It’s weird to think that I’m “this” close to finishing my undergrad experience. I will be going on eventually to get my master’s degree, but this could be the last time I sit in actual classrooms to learn.
It’s funny how when you walk onto your college campus for Freshman Orientation, everything is so new and strange, and now, just four short years later, everything is so familiar. I remember being nervous that I wouldn’t be able to find my classes or that I would somehow get lost on our tiny campus. Now, the campus has become my home. I can tell you exactly how long it takes to walk from one building to another (at a fast pace, you can get from one corner to the furthest corner in about 7 minutes, definitely no more than ten). I can name every building on campus, and tell you what its purpose is.
My college is going through a lot of changes right now, and I’m not a big fan of a lot of them. I feel like the college I’ve loved will not be here next year. Instead, a very different college will occupy the place I have spent the past four years in. In many ways, I’m glad I’m a senior, glad I’ve only had to deal with a small portion of the changes. It’s hard to see something you like change into something you don’t like. In some ways, all of these changes (and I’m talking HUGE, drastic changes) make it easier to say goodbye. Even right now, this does not feel like the college I applied to and chose to attend. There are still many great things about Elmira College, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the same place. I’ll miss it, but I’m also ready to move on to the next phase of my life.
The Oke Den 