This summer has been a bittersweet experience. I have fallen back into my old and comfortable routines. Yet, the odd thing is, they don’t quite feel as comfortable as they did before. When I was sleeping, I felt like I should be studying. When I was having dinner with my family, it felt odd not to have my best friends across the table. Having my own space again just didn’t seem right. It was as if I was waiting for someone to knock on my door, ready for an adventure.

I miss it all. The bad dining hall food, the late nights in the library, and the annoying neighbor down the hall with the odd smell that always seems to waft from underneath his or her door. In just a few short months (or long, depending how you want to look at it), you have changed me. You have brought me tears, both sad and happy. You have broken me, but also healed me. You are everything I believed you would be and more. My expectations were both crushed and exceeded. And although I have thought about leaving you many times, we both know that I will always faithfully return to you.

This past year of college was not easy. I feel that I had more failures than successes. I was pushed to my limits. But during those long nights of tears, anger, and frustration I grew. I learned more about myself than I knew was possible. I saw sides of myself that I didn’t know I had. I am stronger than I thought, and you, my beloved university, taught me that.

But it is not the campus alone that makes up this wonderful place, it is also the professors and the students. My professors showed me that I am capable of succeeding; the professors who told me that I wasn’t capable were proved wrong. Without the students, you are not you. And I have found the same applies to myself. You have given me my best friends, my family, and my person; for that I will forever be grateful.

I slowly fell in love with brick sidewalks, tall looming trees, and broad buildings filled with never-ending classrooms. I fell in love with my small cramped dorm room, a place that quickly became my oasis in the midst of chaos. I fell in love with the art of being content. I was on my own, and I had to work to find my own happiness. And although my time at home has been wonderful and stress-free I am counting down the days until I get to return to you.

As I look to this upcoming year I am both excited and terrified. Failure lurks in every corner, but isn’t that part of what makes this adventure so exciting? I know that I will be able to come out on top, simply because I refuse to accept anything less.

I no longer feel as if I can call one place my home. I feel as though I am stuck in the middle of two places: my past and my future. One place shaped me, and the other is currently shaping me into what I need to be for the rest of my life. So, to my University, in just a few short weeks we will be reunited. I will welcome you with open arms, and I know that you and all that you encompass will do the same for me. I’m ready for what these next wonderful, crazy, and challenging months have in store for us.