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SBU | Life > Experiences

This Semester, We Say “Yes!”

Natalie Merrill 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.

On Jan. 15, I moved back into my college house for my last semester ever at St. Bonaventure University. I was the first of my roommates back, so as I prepped for the rest of them to arrive, I wrote a little message on our communal whiteboard. It said something along the lines of, “welcome back, last semester best semester!” After everyone moved back in, I noticed that my roommate Cassy had added to my note and written (in her beautiful handwriting) “this semester we say yes!”  

I thought that her note perfectly summed up what our last semester of college should be. Saying yes to everything and leaving with no regrets. When this article gets published, there will be 107 days until graduation. And for those 107 days, I want to do anything and everything that I won’t have the chance to do again. 

Yes, I’ll go out. Yes, I’ll join dance team. Yes, I’ll go to power yoga in the Richter. Yes, I’ll drive in the middle of the night to celebrate Groundhog Day in Punxsutawney (praying this one really comes to fruition). Yes, I’ll sacrifice some sleep to giggle a little more with my roommates. Yes, yes, yes. 

My sisters used to have a list of “101 things you need to do before you graduate from St. Bonaventure” that they could check off throughout their Bonaventure years. While the school no longer gives these lists out (I wish they did), I’m treating this semester as a way to check off my own personal 101 things. Maybe I’ll finally climb the rock wall in the Richter! Just kidding, that’s a little too ambitious. But there are a lot of things I’ve always said “maybe one day” or “just once” to, and my time is running out to do them. 

These next 107 days may be the last time in my life that I have the opportunity to say “yes.” I have no idea where I will be at this time next year. Will I be living with my parents, or will I stay in the Bonaventure area? Ideally, I’ll have a full-time job, which probably means my nights won’t exactly look the way they do right now. But for the first time in my entire life, I don’t want to look forward. I want to live in the moment that I am in right now. I want to give my all to the people around me, who I only have 107 days left with. I want to take Cassy’s advice. I want to say yes.  

Natalie Merrill

SBU '25

Natalie, or Nat as most know her, is a new member of Her Campus at SBU! This is her first year in the chapter, and she looks forward to using Her Campus as a way to express herself and rediscover her former love for writing.

In May 2024, Natalie graduated with her bachelor's in history with minors in political science and Spanish from St. Bonaventure after three years. She is continuing her education and receiving her master's in adolescence education during what would be her senior year. As an undergrad, she was President of College Democrats, involved in University Ministries and held two jobs on campus. She is currently working as a graduate assistant with the student success center, teaching a FRES 100 class to 14 freshmen and meeting with them each week to help ensure their success in college.

Outside of her professional career, Natalie enjoys anything that involves breakfast and coffee. She can talk anyone's ear off for hours on end, and frequently does so with her best friends. Her passions include anything to do with the city of Buffalo (go Bills), politics, her study abroad experience in Oxford, England and her early 2000s camcorder.