It’s funny, because I had this great article planned about the double standard of self-respect before I began, and then, life worked out in a series of unfortunate events.
So no, this is not an article about the double standard of self-respect (although that may come later); this is an article about the people that keep you together during and after a series of unfortunate events.
I have an event in my Countdown app titled “MOVE-IN DAY!!!!!!!!” with 10 shamrock emojis afterwards–as I am sure that many of you have. I am also sure that many of you have been checking every hour to see if the number of days has changed since the last 45 minutes you looked at it. Finally, I am sure that many of you are antsy beyond belief and couldn’t be more than ready to pack your bags and make the trek to the beautiful town of the 574, a.k.a. South Bend, Indiana.
I am sure that freshman are excited to “meet new people” and “leave high school behind forever.” I am sure because I was just like you, probably still like you. Yet, as any series of unfortunate events revealed, I am hesitant to leave my people behind.
I want you to take a minute, take a minute and think about who those people are in your life. It shouldn’t take very long for faces and names to appear in your mind, and it shouldn’t take very long for the pang in your heart to develop when you realize you’ll be leaving them in 42 days.
I bet you’re rolling your eyes at me. Pang in my heart, oh Susan, please stop, the cheesiness and the cliché is destroying me! I apologize if you feel this way, but I can’t help it; I’ve always been the sentimental type.
This is not an article about the double standard of self-respect, this is not an article about feminism as a trend, and this is not another article about why I chose to go to Notre Dame.
This is a letter to my people, a letter than can be shared, by you (with any personal adjustments), with your people, written by myself.
To my people:
The summer before college is often described in movies and books as a time of communion, of a last hurrah! before the final goodbyes, with lots of crying and laughter and joy.
For the most part, it is. However, it is also a time of reflection, of acceptance of the coming tide of change arriving in just a few short weeks. This reflection cannot be done in a group setting, it must be explored individually. With this individual reflection comes restlessness and stress and tension, which can strain relationships as everyone is pulling in his or her own direction to try to find him or herself before the challenge of college begins.
People get lost in that transition, people get lost in the mix.
I am here to say thank you, thank you for not getting lost in the fray. Being my person isn’t easy, being anyone’s person isn’t easy, but in this time of change, you have stuck by my side at every turn of the road, at every hardship, at every new and crazy idea.
You have been there with your quick wit, and your happiness when I’m at my worst and most upset.
We are going to the far reaches of this country, and we don’t know what’s ahead for us. I know, however, that even miles apart, you will all still be my people.
I could say I love you, but that would be too easy.
Anyone can say I love you; it has become a reflex.
So, I’m not going to say I love you.
I believe in us.
I believe in your strength, and your effort, and your ambition, and all of your plans for the future and beyond. I believe in our friendship, that it is real, and it is lasting and it will survive.
This is the time when we branch out by ourselves, but we cannot be alone.
I believe in us.
You are my person. On certain days, I appreciate your support more than I appreciate the sun in my face after being stuck in an office for four hours, more than I appreciate the way elderly couples hold hands and look at each other the same way they looked at each other 50 years ago, and more than I appreciate a glass of water after a long run on a hot day.
I believe in us. I appreciate you. You are my person.
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