We were sitting in the dining hall and I saw a flyer for a pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see the pope (ND level: 100). I was getting pumped up because seeing the pope means one thing: an Instagram picture with ungodly caption potential (pun very much intended). I was spitting caption and picture ideas like rapid fire, and I realized my friend wasn't even remotely as excited as I was. I was offended that he wasn't joining in on one of the many moments we share as Grade-A crazies. As I stared at his guilt-stricken face I came to the realization that he wasn't excited because he would not be joining me on this excursion... Because he would be on one of his own. In China. On the opposite side of the planet. For an entire semester.
As any emotionally-stable person would, I broke into tears in the middle of the dining hall and cried all over my bowl of cereal. Lucky for him and the friends that were joining us, the dining hall was closing in half an hour, so it was just us, my tears, and dining hall music slowly building from light background noise to a blaring invitation of GTFO.
This was the first time it hit me that my best friend, who's room I show up to uninvited and frequently take naps in, the person who validates my antics with illogical reasoning, the person who I legitimately cannot go out with unsupervised because there is a 200% chance that we will end up doing regretful things, is LEAVING ME FOR A WHOLE SEMESTER.
Perhaps this seems dramatic, but in reality it is difficult to know that one of the people who makes Notre Dame a second home to me will be elsewhere for a while. What I am trying to get at is that although I have other incredible friends who will be around, and although it is only one semester that he will be gone, I am convinced he understands me better than anyone else on this campus.
As we both begin a new year in two different places, I hope that when we meet again in the midst of a frigid winter in South Bend, Indiana we have nothing but good things to say about our semesters. I also hope that Beyoncé releases another unexpected album so that we make it the soundtrack to our reunion.
With a mixture of excitement and stress,
Your friend who will stay, holding down the fort.
