Friday, May 22, 2009

The Goodbye Song

Today’s entry title is from “Shrek: The Musical”.

“This is it? This is what you’re paying for?” asked my mother quizzically. She was stunned that the size of my single dorm room was so small. The phrase struck me as odd since the room never felt small.

This past academic year was the first one where I had a room on campus. This took a lot of people by surprise, and it didn’t make sense to a lot of people. Why would I spend the money when my own house was just fifteen minutes away by foot? Now that all is said and done, I’ll throw in my two cents.

Originally, I wanted to live on campus so that I could build a group of supporters for my Senate run and my run for the Vice-Presidency. I saw these folks, I admit, as means to an end. That was wrong.

What happened was that I found a group of people who were caring, open, kind, funny, generous, welcoming, and friendly. Living in proximity has helped us forge a strong bond. I’ve met people I never would have met or gotten to know otherwise. I try to meet a lot of new students every year, but I end up knowing their names and not much else. Now I have a bunch of friends who helped me when times got rough and whom I helped. The freshmen I know went through many of the same struggles I did, and I was there to help them. Words, as always, fail to fully describe my feelings.

When I think of the money I spent on having a room, I don’t think about the size of the room; my friends were in there visiting me much of the time, so it didn’t feel small. I think about going to say hello to friends by visiting their rooms, I think about going to hall programs, and holding window conversations with the resident around the corner from me.

I was lucky to have these friends and a creative and caring RA. They all certainly made dorm life better. I realize that experiences may vary, but I had a blast.

I’m blogging about graduation on Monday. Don’t miss it! (The ceremony is tomorrow, Saturday. I’ll be there.)

Later days,
Nico