Dear 303N Alumni,

How's the single life treating you? I bet it feels great to be clean again. I'm sure you feel much bigger with an empty closet and four walls without posters and monogrammed paraphernalia. But I was, um, just wondering... well, do you ever feel empty? Like your life is missing something without us two giggling, boisterous girls? I'm getting along just fine without you. You know, they always say, "there's nothing like sleeping in your own bed," and well, all this travelling from campsite to campsite sure is fun. I certainly don't miss the fact that I had to climb up three flights of stairs with a 50-pound backpack on my shoulders just to get to you at the end of every long day of class. It's also nice not to have to worry about how easily mold could grow in a place as humid as you are. My room at home sure is much bigger and it has way more storage space for the odds and ends I insist on keeping just because I might want to remember, "how it used to be" one day. As many faults as you happen to have, well, I'm writing to say "I miss you."

I miss the way the bed could be easily moved on the floor next to the wall so that I could prop my back up on the 80 million throw pillows I did not need while I watched YouTube and pretended to do homework. I miss how I could look out your window when I first woke up every single morning with the sun shining brightly over the whole campus. Man, those days were better than waking up as a fairytale princess in her parents' castle. I miss how, when I opened your door, there was a whole bustling community just outside. When I open my bedroom door at home, I only hear my three family members shuffling around the house instead of the laughter and music of multiple other girls. I miss the way the knob on your door would crack, letting me know my roommate was coming home and was probably ready to fill me in on the hilarious details of her day.

OK, now that we have established that I miss you in spite of your many faults, I just wanted to say thank you. Thanks for giving me a reasonably quiet and private place to have my alone time at the end of days that were often just plain rough. Thanks for always having a place where I could binge-watch old TV shows and movies when I just wanted an escape from real life. Thanks for being the place where countless memories were made.

I hope the next girls that get the privilege of living in you, love you as much as we did. I hope they respect you, and keep you cleaner than we did. We really did love you, honestly. All those times we neglected cleaning you for a week, we really did have tests, papers, and competitions. You were one of my favorite places. I wish I could say, "we'll stay in touch," but dorm life is over and apartments are looming in my future. So, I guess this is goodbye. Try not to take it too personally.

Love,

Erin