Going off to college was a major step for me, mainly because the college I chose was a little bit over a thousand miles away. Leaving home, the community, and the really close friends I had was the hardest choice for me to make, but at least for right now, I am glad I made this decision.

Waconia, Minnesota was a small town, to me, with a lot of diversity individually, but as it is compared to other places, it is mostly white and pretty wealthy. Compared to where I go to college in the Swannanoa Valley of North Carolina, there is much diversity in the fact that you can be whoever you want and you can strive outside of the norms within the community.

Reflecting on where I grew up, in the outskirts of Minneapolis, I have learned to cherish and miss the memories I once had there. I went to a small high school, with only about 280 graduating seniors alongside me. There, I played on the soccer team and was deeply involved with the show choir communities. It is the memories I made within these communities that I miss the most.

In the recent week, with the passing of a high school friend, a show choir member, a beautiful, loving girl, I am forced to reflect on the memories that I left behind. In the midst of grief, as a society, we usually come together as a community to remember the loved ones we have lost. For me, this past week, I have had bittersweet episodes of just wishing to be home, instead of texting my friends reflecting on the times spent together. I wish to go home, because in my time of being within a college community, I have never experienced a community so dedicated and open on remembrance and support. I wish to go home, to the lake sunsets and sit with the dreams that I left home with. I wish to go home, to talk and laugh about the memories Bailey Kiel and I had in middle school or the times in show choir at 4 a.m. I wish to go home and hug my old friends, classmates, teammates, coaches, peers, etc., just to tell them that without the privilege of belonging to this community, I would not be who I am today.

The Waconia community never fails to come together over a lost relative, friend, or classmate. In this time of reflection, I am assured with the support that I have a community to always come home to. Now, I am not homesick, but I am in home-awe. I have a feeling of warmth towards my community as a whole and individuals.

So my friends, I invite you to reach out to those old friends and wish them the best, because sometimes, sadly, you do not know how much they impacted you until they are gone. I also invite you to live your next days with the smile that no matter what happens, a community somewhere in this world, will have your back. For me, I am deeply thankful that I am a graduate of Waconia High School, even though sometimes I felt trapped in the small town just outside of the cities. I invite you to send your thoughts to the loved ones you have lost and also remember that every experience you have had and will have shapes who you are and will be as a person, individual, citizen, and friend in the future.

Sending my thoughts to the Kiel family this week. Bailey Kiel is an angel that is watching over all of us, smiling and laughing. A sad reminder that the good often pass away too young. Much love.