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A woman and a man on bikes, reaching for each other with a sunset in the background
A woman and a man on bikes, reaching for each other with a sunset in the background
Photo by Everton Vila via Unsplash
TAMU | Life > Experiences

A love letter to every little moment.

Rebekah Streun Student Contributor, Texas A&M University
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TAMU chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.

I’m writing this at a moment when I’m feeling particularly sentimental about where I’m at, who’s surrounded me in life, those I grew up with and the friends along the way, my professors who have changed my life, and every little moment that I have been fortunate enough to experience up to this point. 

I’m living in an interesting time. I’ve got opportunities that the women before me in my family never had before, and I’m able to do things today that people never even dreamed of – even people alive today, in my own country. Yet I still get lost in the things that can distract me from the good. I’ve grown, and I’ve changed, learned my morals, done things that were wrong, for myself, and for others. I’ve held guilt, and the next day been able to smile bigger than I ever had before. I’m going through life on my own accord, while going along with the things around me, the things that impact and rule all of us in society. I’m thinking about how, in the macro view of it all, I forget about the micro joys that arguably have always weighed more in the grand scheme of life. 

A wine night with my best friends, and a game of We’re Not Really Strangers to learn more about each other – where we use the nights as excuses to share every little thing that we love so much about the other. A walk to class, with a friend who was once a stranger at the beginning of the semester, sharing our thoughts about life – and about what we just learned in class; discussing our own perspectives and allowing for the other to have space for their own truths. A flight, anticipatorily waiting to see a best friend who now lives across the country and seeing each other and feeling as though no time has passed. Having a moment with some of your closest friends alone, where you can truly check in and slow down time to be there with each other. Confiding in each other and truly caring about the other’s well-being, and being so amazed at the fact that you were able to meet in life. Walking to the next location and skipping while we hold hands and laugh. Driving on backroads, blasting your favorite songs with the windows down and curating a karaoke playlist of all the songs we need to sing together as a duet at the nearest dive bar. The rarity of having relationships that allow me to be more secure in who I am, because of how beautiful they are.

Having my roommates through college – meeting strangers who became best friends, then attending weddings for these new best friends. Seeing their lives change day by day, as mine is ever shifting as well. Coming home from class, crossing between each other’s lives so smoothly, but also uniting in times of need. When you need to talk to someone because you’ve been in your room studying for hours, or even just needing to rant about how your day went. Asking if you can borrow some eyeliner, or asking for help because you know they do their own eyeliner so well. Pausing in time to sit and watch a movie together, then dispersing into each of your rooms with a drawn-out “gooodnight.” Cooking meals, and sharing the things that you feel proud of, or even stress baking and spoiling the rest of the roomies with the consequences. Coming back to the college apartment in the summertime, opening your room door and seeing letters written by each of them – which you read in the now empty apartment after they’ve graduated, crying at their simple but so beautiful expression of love. Seeing each of them grow and create their own lives, in passing, but being so intertwined at some of your biggest moments in life. 

Being so fortunate to go to a college that has some of the greatest scholars. Sitting in class, able to listen to a professor share the things they have spent their lives studying and learning themselves. While learning about who they each are from the ways they teach, how they care, and how they get lost in the passion of the things they must share with you. Learning not only academically from them – but engaging in conversations with them about things that will truly impact me and my own future, and the choices I believe I will make in it. Finding inspiration in a sentence from a favorite professor, on a regular Wednesday in class – just another day of their job, but a moment that shakes your entire frame and understanding of life. Then carrying them and their lessons with you past the end of each semester.

Talking with strangers and hearing their perspectives on life. Hearing passions about how they believe that love is the most important thing – and how the people in their lives make their own. The great loves that they’ve had and lost, but the people that have shaped their thoughts, and the people they disagree with as well. The moments in passing where I’ve asked a stranger at the store their opinion on which thing I should pick out, and the momentary shared joy in our eyes to feel a piece of connection with another stranger. Sitting in the park and seeing each person living their own life – worrying, stressing, loving, and enjoying their own things. 

And most importantly, to me – going home and sitting on the back porch – and finally relaxing from the days I felt as though I was racing. Sure, because I’m in nature and have a profound connection with the breeze, and the familiarity of the air in my hometown compared to my college town. But really, the peace of home. The idea in my mind was created by the memories made and the people who have surrounded me. A camping trip growing up, with my grandparents who valued getting us outdoors – and exploring the country, going to museums, and learning – and aiding in raising people who had an appreciation for the little things. Those who raised me cultivated a deep love and kindness for each other, the world, and nature. Perhaps from the genetics of who we each were, or perhaps because of the unconditional love which surrounded each moment we had together. Holidays, and going over to grandma’s to get there as the cousins woke up – and make breakfast together, not knowing when we would see them all next. Watching them all unite in cooking, hearing “how can I help” in the kitchen. Arguing here and there, yelling even – but laughing by the time the biscuits hit the table. Getting out of the shower when I was a little girl, and my mom waiting to wrap the towel around me. Who then held me, and sang you are my sunshine while swaying me left and right. Falling asleep and holding the hand of the ones you love, just to know that they’re there with you. 

I think I forget that my home isn’t necessarily the place, but it’s the people who make every environment I step into. The simple saying is that “you are your own home,” but really, I believe that we each allocate the spaces – and take the time to be each other’s homes, implicitly, just in the action of living around each other. How many ordinary Wednesdays, conversations in the kitchen, drives down familiar roads, or walks back home will eventually become things I wish I could do just one more time? So much of our lives is spent waiting for life to happen, but I think we sometimes forget it already is. The people at the dinner table, friends walking beside us, and family waiting for us at home are not simply a part of our journeys to next steps, but they are the journey. Every piece of who I am today was crafted by my experiences within these other lives that happen simultaneously, isn’t that beautiful? 

Rebekah Streun

TAMU '26

Rebekah Streun is a senior psychology major with a minor in sociology at TAMU. Within the school's Her Campus chapter she is a part of the writing and editing committee, and loves spending her time writing impassioned articles about what she finds interesting. Outside of HC, Rebekah is a part of a women's service organization, Women Helping Out Other People. She is the president within her organization, leading with hopeful optimism, empathy, and with a goal of uniting each of the members while making outreach into the community. She is also a part of American Association of University Women, a feminism based organization focused on creating lasting friendships, while helping others within the community, and advocating for women's rights.

Outside of campus programs, Rebekah loves spending time with loved ones, leading with vulnerability in hopes of finding deeper connections, reading, dancing, karaoke, cooking, taking care of her plants, journaling/writing, and always broadening her perspectives. She does not shy away from an emotional conversation, and the same goes with her writing. As a writer for Her Campus, she is excited to share her ideas, reach out further into the community with research, and always uphold what she is passionate about throughout her writing.