**Editor’s Note: This article was contributed to by Amelia Yeager.**
On the fateful day of April 10th, 2016, I met the love of my life, Amelia Yeager. This was a love in disguise, however, as we met in Gund Commons during a Thumb’s Up weekend. Amelia was the prospective student assigned to me for the evening. We began our friendship in a fairly awkward manner, as many student-prospie relationships are, with me dragging her to a Pep Band performance. We then got dinner and attempted to make conversation about Kenyon life, with me censoring my weekend activities and her inquiring about the gym requirement.
We then attended a rousing a cappella showcase, which I said I was most likely going to skip to do homework, but decided last minute to stay and watch with Amelia. Afterwards, we returned to my room and chatted more in depth about Kenyon life. We bonded about ex-boyfriends, Wes Anderson, and our mutual interest in English and anthropology. Amelia also met my roommate, her future co-worker at Kenyon.
After this tête-à-tête, we journeyed to the Kenyon College Bookstore to obtain ice cream with my hallmate and her prospective student. Amelia, it turned out, didn’t like ice cream (oops). I then showed her the Lewis lounge and introduced to a variety of my friends. We returned to my room and went to sleep rather early. She then made me wake up super early to walk her to her mom’s car. Later in the day, Amelia texted me that she would be coming to Kenyon in the fall!
Fast forward four months; I return to campus as a sophomore and Amelia comes to Gambier as a freshman. She immediately joined Pep Band, one of my favorite activities on campus and one of the only ones that I showed her during her visit. I also saw her at one of the first HIKA meetings of the year, another activity I am involved in on campus. As I joined Her Campus second semester, I also encountered Amelia.
As the Pep Band presence grew throughout the year and Amelia and I grew closer through our shared activities, I learned that she was also an English major and interested in attending the Kenyon-Exeter Program, the study abroad program that I will be attending in the fall. This was a disappointing realization, for although it meant we would be further sharing many Kenyon experiences, it also meant that she would be abroad during my senior year and that we only had limited time together. Throughout this year we have grown to become extremely close friends.
On the second weekend of Thumbs Up this year, Amelia lost her prospective student but still wanted to recreate the fateful day when we bonded over Bookstore ice cream. After my film screening, we walked into town and sat in the children’s corner of the store, chatting over Blackberry Fudge (Amelia) and Buckeye Classic (me). This was a bittersweet moment, as we were celebrating our friendship but also our last few weeks together in recreating this epic meeting. During this time, a wayward prospie stumbled upon us and asked us where he should be going. After giving him some advice, he asked us if we regretted attending Kenyon, to which we both replied with a resounding “No!”
Image Credit: Alexandra Kanovsky, Amelia Yeager