An Early Goodbye

Photo: Meiwen Wang Photography

Long time, no post! To be quite honest, I should have been studying the past few hours. However I kept finding myself checking numerous social media outlets instead of staring at PowerPoint slides, and remembered that I own a blog... So now here I am!

Week 10, the last week of instruction, is quickly approaching. Before this academic year, Week 10 during spring quarter, for me at least, was simply an indication of summer (school) after an endless amount of studying for finals in the science library. This year, week 10 is different than ever before. Besides the fact that I was crazy enough to buy tickets to a One Republic concert right before two exams, Week 10 also indicates that graduation is coming soon, really soon. I don't mean my graduation - I mean, that's coming soon too, a year goes by in a blink of an eye - but my friends' graduation.

In high school, all of my friends were my year, so I was able to do everything with them - go to dances (well I only went to two during my whole high school career), enjoy senior parties and festivities, and.... Okay, I can't think of anything else because I was a boring high school student, but anyways, the point is, this will be the first year where I'll be having close friends graduate and leave me behind.

Truth be told, I don't really like change. I guess that's a very general and broad statement, since I'm sure there have been some changes in my life that I have enjoyed, but that's besides the point. The photo above is from the senior photoshoot this morning which I helped organize for my sorority's first group of graduating girls. I've known 5/6 of the girls since my first year of college. One (Alison) was actually my freshmen orientation roommate, who I met before college even started. Another (Stephanie) is my very first little who I love and adore to pieces. Two (Christine and Samantha) are my pledge sisters and the first few real and close friends I met during my first few weeks of college.

To know that all six of these girls are not going to be in the area to just hang out and study with is just so... Sad? Pardon my choice of adjective but I honestly cannot think of another one without looking something up in a thesaurus. With having to balance life and school, I regret not taking the time to spend more time with these girls. Throughout the year, we were all reminded that they were graduating, but despite that, I just let time slip by without making more of an effort to hang out with them or grab a bite to eat at UTC (just kidding who am I kidding I don't really eat at UTC). I am not going to pretend that I am extremely close with each girl. However, I do respect each and every one of them and believe that they're wonderful and capable of doing things that they cannot even imagine at the moment. With that being said, I do wish I was able to get to know them more, because they're a great bunch.

I know this may seem a bit "over-dramatic" since it's the 21st century and we all love social media and technology and have the ability to drive and visit each other every now and then. But it's the fact that I'm losing the comfort of their immediate presence in our school area that saddens me. I can't just text one of them and be like, "Hey are you out of class/work right now? Lets go to so and so!" All of that will change in a matter of less than two weeks, and I'm not ready for that. Technology just can't beat real time face-to-face interaction!

Nevertheless, I'm very fortunate to have had the memories and experiences I've shared with these girls the past 2-3 years, and I'm also very blessed to have had our paths crossed during our college career. I'll miss seeing and judging Christine's derpy faces. I'll miss Stephanie's hesitating stutters. I'll miss Samantha's easy going personality. I'll miss lowkey judging Laura for every time she played country music. I'll miss Alison's enthusiasm and positivity for almost everything. I'll miss Josie telling me that she wants to have an Asian baby just like me (teehee). I'll miss all of them.

I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for each and every one of them. I know some of them don't have immediate plans after college, but I trust that they'll be able to find their way through life. But most importantly, I'm excited for them to get married because excited phone-calls about proposals and fiances and bachelorette parties and weddings and then eventually families and housewarming parties and I just can't. I'm excited for their future, and I hope to be a part of it.

"You be careful out there in the real world, all right? Everyone's not as friendly as us."

xx