Summer is quickly approaching and it’s time to pack up and move out. Although the idea of summer is exciting and something we all look forward to, it’s hard to leave your friends for the summer. I have been anticipating summer since the beginning of this semester, but now that it’s actually here, I can’t imagine not seeing my best friends for a few months.
Although we do have planes and the ability to travel to one another, it’s not the same as simply texting them and saying, “Want to go get ice cream?” That 5 minute drive to your friend’s house becomes 2 plane rides after this week. That Friday night dinner with all of your friends becomes a long FaceTime call while you’re both eating takeout. Summer is everything we look forward to as students, but what we sometimes forget is that it’s hard to leave those you love behind.
I can’t describe how eager I am to see my parents and childhood friends, but at the same time, I am dreading driving away from this campus in a few days. What this does teach us is that it’s so important to live in the moment rather than hope for the future. I do regret thinking about this summer so often when I could have been more present this semester. Leaving these people behind will be incredibly difficult, but it’s also a positive thing.
As the infamous quote goes, “Distance makes the heart grow fonder” and I can certainly say that that will be true. Everyone tells you that your freshman year of college goes by fast, but they really don’t tell you how fast. It seems like yesterday I was meeting my roommates for the first time, going to my first college class and meeting my first college friends. Now, this place has become my second home and these people have become family.