“Goodbye..? Oh no, please. Can’t we go back to page one and do it all over again?” - Winnie the Pooh

This year has been a roller coaster of emotions. It feels as though it was just yesterday I was helping my roommate hang her tapestry, I mean… “blinds”... and figuring out what the point of FYT was. It wasn’t until I started typing this that time finally caught up to me. As I look back I realize I spent my entire year procrastinating, straying away from my new found gluten free lifestyle and keeping up my track record for staying in Miley Lounge until the lights turn off. Though I may not be the “model student” in any respect I somehow managed to survive, most likely due to my coffee addiction and nocturnal tendencies.

As I reflect on this year one thing is clear, I have met some of the best people, people I am proud to say I know and ecstatic to call my friends. They are the type of people that will, with one look, change your whole mood for the better. People with endless compassion and whose comedic stories continue to amaze me. All accepting of my various stages of being weird and sassy. Though each person is unique in their own way, they all share these special qualities. I have never felt so lucky to be surrounded by such positive influences.

Though the year has had it’s ups and downs, we have all stuck by each other’s side. Through “las clases dificiles”, spontaneous crying episodes, and taking naps pretty much anywhere we can, we have powered through… barely. To compensate we made crafts, talked about practically anything in the efforts to avoid working, and eaten far more than our weight in every type of food imaginable. Oh wait… don’t forget about the endless games of pool played. Well, can you really call it playing if the Q-ball is almost never on the table? I’ll have to check the rule book. But, I wouldn’t have wanted to spend my time any other way.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, which it may, but four months without these people in my life will be the most difficult challenge I’ve yet to face. Sure we’ll stay connected, but it won’t be the same as this year. A year where only walls or floors divided us. A year where a five minute walk was the furthest distance anyone was from each other. A year full of low-budget adventures and infinite walks to First Beach. However, next year we will all be separated by houses, where the walks to each other will be longer and the division wider.

I may be excited for what the future holds, but I am also scared of the change that is about to come. So for now, as I dry my eyes, I bid you all adieu until we meet again. Until September...