I'm feeling pretty nostalgic right now. It probably helps that I'm passing time in the Kansas Union on campus, listening to Bob Dylan, and watching students pass with their backpacks. I'm not a student anymore. I'm not a Lawrence resident anymore. What am I?
I'm homeless. I'm confused. I'm waiting for a paycheck. I'm just waiting. I'm waiting to move in a week and I'm waiting for all these strange feelings of disconnection to leave my mind. I'm already missing friends that I know will always be my friends. They're not going anywhere, we're just going to be separated by distance.
It was four years ago when I first came to the Kansan Union for freshman orientation. I didn't know a soul. As the first to leave the nest at home, I was nervous and excited. I didn't have an older sibling to show me the ropes. I just knew college was supposed to "the time of your life." It sounded so incredibly cliché, especially topped with the phrase, "Four years will fly!" or "You'll meet your best friends in college." The stiff reality of clichés is that most of them are true.
I had the time of my life, four years DID fly, and I absolutely, without a doubt, met some truly comical, inspirational, and phenomenal friends. College ruled. I earned two degrees in four years, spent three summers in Lawrence with my best friends, went to Europe, lived to remember 21 shots on my birthday, survived a sorority for a few years, fell in love, tried most of the restaurants in town, bartended a little bit, served at four different establishments, experienced an NCAA national championship, wrote for the college newspaper, and I never went to jail. Yea, I got myself into debt, had my heart broken, experienced a car accident, and made a few poor decisions, but it was still four years I wouldn't trade.
So maybe I'm saying goodbye to a town and a life that I love, but I really got the most out of my college experience. Thanks KU. You took a load of my parents' hard-earned money, and your parking department is evil, but I had the time of my life.
I'm off to collect my paycheck and ready to head West for a week. I'll be on a plane to NYC next Saturday. Goodbye Lawrence. It's been a great four years!
