By Hadassah Umbarger, Staff Writer
Hm? Yeah, I’m fine. No, I’m not crying. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Okay okay, it’s just— all my friends are graduating. Or graduated.
I started writing this article thinking that maybe this is worse for me because I’m an English major, and there are so few of us. But then I realized that I do have friends who aren’t English majors who are graduating, and surely I can’t be the only student who’s a little salty about the whole situation.
So the rest of this letter is written on behalf of the other sophomores like me, and on behalf of the juniors and freshmen, and addressed to the graduating class of 2021.
First of all, rude. How dare you graduate and leave me here?
Second of all, why? You’d rather graduate than stay here and go to class and do homework and have to keep a schedule and not procrastinate on projects and work with groups and stay on top of reading and and and…
OK. Fine. Maybe I understand a little bit. But that doesn’t mean I’ll be happy about you leaving me here.
I’m proud of you. You’ve worked so hard and done so well. You’ve taught me how to be a better person and college student and helped me keep going even when I just really wanted to lie down on the floor and cry and sleep. You’ve been inspiring me for as long as I’ve been here. As if college life isn’t stressful enough, you somehow managed to stay (mostly) sane while going to college during a worldwide pandemic. You have made Newman a better place simply by being a part of it. And now I’ll have to learn how to college without you.
And I will be OK. But it’s gonna take me a minute.
I’ve been known to exaggerate. I do have friends who are sophomores, juniors and even freshmen. But I’m still going to miss my senior friends.
I don’t know where all of you are going or what you’ll be doing, but I know that you’ll do great. And wherever you go will be a better place simply because you’ll be a part of it.
Thanks for spending part of your college time with me. I hope that when I’m a senior, I’ll have been able to impact the younger students around me like you have impacted me.
Continue to be amazing.
Much love,
A Sophomore Coming to Terms with the End of this Semester
PHOTO: Courtesy Photo, Unsplash
