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SBU | Life

I Am Never Alone

Olivia Francis Student Contributor, St. Bonaventure University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at SBU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I take a deep breath as I am about to go on stage to get pinned by my best friend Norah at the Halfway Day ceremony hosted in the Rathskeller. A wave of relief washes over me as I give the class advisor the card that has my and Norah’s names written on it. I had made it. I made it to the halfway point of my college career that I have worked so hard to be a part of. Just as the class advisor finished reading my name, I heard someone scream “YEAH OLIVIA!” and I looked over and saw my coworker cheering me on from behind the bar.  

A few weeks before the ceremony, I stopped hanging out with this group of people that I spent time together with every day. Although I realized that no longer being with them was the best thing that could happen to me at the time, I was still going through a hard time emotionally, as I felt like I really connected with those people. So, in my mind, I was feeling very alone. At least, until that day came around.  

One thing I have always said is how close my coworkers and I are. From working long shifts together to those late nights when we just acted silly at work after a long day, we became close because of those times. Besides my family back home in Niagara Falls, my coworkers that I enjoy talking to, both on and off the clock, are my family. When I told them about what happened with my old friend group, all they did was provide me with reassurance and promise me that it would only get better from there.  

Ever since that ceremony, I realized that I am not as alone as I thought I was. Yes, I don’t have a giant group of friends that I hang out with every day, but I do have friends and people who care about me; I just don’t see them every day, and that’s okay. Maybe not seeing them every day is what makes our friendship so special.  

My thought process is that if you don’t see them often, you become more excited when you do get to see them. For example, even though I don’t see Norah every day, that special bond we have has only become stronger. I mean, she’s like my older sister, and that is a bond I know I will never lose.  

So, on that day when families gathered to celebrate their person reaching their halfway point in college, I realized that my family was there all along when my coworker let everyone know how much he supported me. It also showed me that there are people who are there for me; I just had to open my eyes and see that they were here all along.  

Olivia Francis

SBU '27

Olivia Francis is a second-year member of the Her Campus at SBU chapter. She oversees the site’s culture, entertainment, and wellness verticals on the site, including mental health, relationships, TV shows, and movie coverage.

Olivia is currently a second-year student majoring in Communications, Social Justice & Advocacy at St. Bonaventure University. Beyond Her Campus, Olivia has been published in many anthropologies over the years through an organization called Young Writers. She is also one of the leading coordinators for SBU's Break The Bubble.

In her free time, Olivia enjoys writing poetry and short stories, along with taking walks while listening to her favorite music genres on Spotify such as Pop or R&B. One of her goals is to travel the world someday and explore new foods and customs. An interesting fact about Olivia is she is not only the first college gen student but, she is the first female in her family to go for a higher education.