Going back to school always brings about mixed emotions. As kids, buying new school supplies and shopping for a first-day outfit were the highlights. Rushing to finish summer reading (or, as I prefer to call it, “Sparknoting”) and balancing the excitement of returning to friends and after-school activities, with the dread of homework and tests, kept you occupied. For college students, the end of summer marks a lot more than going back to a routine and being forced to sit in class for up to seven hours a day. Summer’s ending means leaving behind and saying goodbye to friends, family, and, arguably the worst of all, pets. It also means reuniting with roommates and college friends that you’ve only been able to call, facetime, and text for the past few months. Bittersweet is the perfect word to describe this dilemma, wishing there was two of you so one could have the freedom of going to school and the other could stay back and enjoy summer forever.
Goodbyes have never been my thing. I mean I don’t think anyone enjoys leaving and not seeing people they love for months at a time, but I admit that I’m the crier of my friends and so it’s never a quick goodbye. Last summer, the summer before my freshman year, there were grad parties, small gatherings in front of packed cars, and late-night drives around town to soak up every last minute my friends and I had left before move in day. Looking back now, it wasn’t easy, but you would have thought we were never going to ever see each other again. Every time we thought about it, one of us, usually me, would start to tear up thinking we could never make it to Thanksgiving without one another. Being away at school there were tough days, especially the first few weeks, but long phone calls and Skype sessions were just the relief we all needed. Seeing each other's faces and making plans for visiting were perfect distractions. A little advice for incoming freshman: if you are struggling and feel sad or overwhelmed in the beginning don’t be scared to talk about it with your home friends. Even if their Instagram posts look like they’re having the time of their lives, they probably have some of the same feelings you do.
Surviving the first big goodbyes last August, I feel a lot better about heading back to the Bronx in a few short weeks. It will never be easy leaving parents, siblings, and best friends since fourth grade, but college is a whole other adventure full of great people, experiences, and opportunities just waiting for you to take them. For those of you returning, transferring, or embarking on your first college experience just remember that you will be ok. You might cry, I probably will too, but you can do it. Your high school friends and family will be waiting for you when you get back for Thanksgiving, or Christmas, or even next summer, and you’ll all have countless stories to tell and more friends to talk about. Being apart makes you realize just how lucky you are to have them in your life.
Oh and remember -- it’s terribly cheesy, I know -- but it’s not goodbye, it's see you later.
XOXO,
Sara
