Happy fall semester! It seems that every new school year starts with me introducing my goals, hopes, and dreams for this new year. For me, back to school has always felt extra special because my birthday has always been during the first week of classes back at SBU.
This year feels different, though. It’s my final year of undergrad and all I want to do is stay present for myself and those I love. I don’t want to set a major goal because my biggest goal is to share my love for as long as I can.
I’m settling into a routine of commuting to class with a friend or two, coming home in the early evening to my housemates sprawled on the floor, and ending each night with a “goodnight, I love you”. I never knew home could feel like this.
Every day, no matter my challenges, I know I can come home and vent, bouncing my thoughts off of my people, and allow myself to sink into the soft cushion of the rug.
I am still working hard at my academics, don’t get me wrong, but there’s something so special about this exact time in my life. Even when I’m writing a paper or completing a set of flashcards, I know my friends are right there beside me, carefully keeping an eye out. I’m never lonely, even when I’m alone.
All of my housemates’ schedules vary and there have already been days where I realize I haven’t seen a housemate or two in the last day. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, which much be true because I don’t know how else to explain the sweetness of a hug after a long day of missing a friend.
It’s truly such a gift to live with people who lift me up in such incredible ways. I am learning to love my inquisitive mind, to question norms, and to understand what lights me up, and in doing this, I’m also learning about my peers.
This sense of presence is new, unfamiliar to me. It’s both welcome and sobering at times. I want to be forever young, as Alphaville says. May I grow into a person I admire over the course of this year and beyond.
If you take nothing else from this, remember to give those you love an extra squeeze because you’ll never get this time back. May you always know love is all around and every type of love, especially that of friends, is special!