When I started my freshman year, I couldn’t imagine the bond I would have with all of you. I didn’t think the year would fly by, and I didn’t think the year would turn out the way it did. I wasn’t expecting sleepovers in twin beds or homemade “family” dinners. I wasn’t expecting to miss my roommate one day into spring break. When I first met you all, I didn’t think you’d turn into family. I didn’t think leaving you all would be quite as devastating as it feels right now.
It’s hard to imagine 3 and a half months without my little college family. It was strange leaving my real family in the fall, and now the same feeling is occurring again. When you leave the people you spend every day with, your daily life is changed. The people you eat, sleep, study and live with won’t be down the hall when you need them. Your college family brings you so much love when you’re missing the comforts of your real home. They become so comfortable that they become your home away from home.
Your upperclassman “mom” won’t be around to give you senior-to-freshman advice. She won’t be there to give you dirt on guys around campus or invite you to her apartment for homemade meals. No longer will you spend the night on her couch after a night out. Your upperclassmen mom is the friend who takes you out to the best parties, but will still protect you and look out for you.
Here’s a goodbye to the first year away from my real family. It’s a goodbye to many memories, tests, and night I don’t quite remember. Mostly, it’s a goodbye to the family I made at college. After my bags are packed and my room is bare, my last to-do of my freshman year will be to say goodbye to you all. Things will change over the summer, but the bond we formed our freshman year won’t break. You are my family, and I can’t wait to see where the next three years take us. So goodbye for now. I’ll see you all in August.
