Sunday, April 29, 2012

All Hail Northeastern

Friday night was my last night living in International Village.  A lot of summer goodbyes were said, each of which was highly emotional.  Shannon, Lauren, Sean, Iris, Chris, Alaric, Meredith, Sarah, Andy, and Tasha all left before Saturday.

It's more sad than I'd have ever conceived.  Tasha's part of the room had been packed for a few days, but there were cardboard boxes and suitcases and food splayed across the desk.  Once she really moved out, there was this pervading sense of emptiness in the room.  I had to face my own wall when I was on the computer to avoid looking at the blankness.

Saturday morning was an early start to pack up the entire room.  Lauren was up too and sat with me while it happened.  I'm glad I didn't have to pack alone.  She and Ryan left over the course of the day, and I helped Laura move into Smith for Prism.  After these thirteen farewells, it got really lonely.  My family packed me up and moved me out, and then I just had to empty the recycles and trash one more time.  When I was standing in 933 IV for the last time, I got kind of overwhelmed.  That room was my home for eight months.  I had a really beautiful view of Roxbury everyday.  I slept, studied, laughed, cried, lived, and grew in that room.  To see it return to looking exactly as it did on Day One two semesters ago was beyond sad.  I had one last view out the window, shut the lights, and left the room dark and empty.

What bothers me is that it looks EXACTLY as it did when we first moved in.  This is exactly as it will look when the new freshies move in.  My opinion when we first moved in was that the undecorated room looked a bit like a jail cell: it was a blank diary, waiting for Tasha and I to fill its pages.  Now, I KNOW we've written all over every page of it, but the unforgiving white walls don't reflect that.  It's like all our memories are erased.  WE know those adventures live on, but not a single soul to live there next will.  It's disconcerting.

What will I remember most about this year?  Decorating the room that first night till 2 am, The Good, the Bad, the Weird in Andy's room, the time we watched Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in Scott and Sean's room, Harry Potter Movie-thons, the time Tasha and I went Christmas shopping at Marshall's, the Doctor Who marathon, girl talks, girl talks accompanied by beverages, Christmas decorations for all of second semester, that time we all agreed that if I was a phone company I'd be Virgin Mobile, piecing together the previous night over a noon breakfast, Russell Brand tickets, Halloweekend, bringing home ABP goodies, The Vow for Valentine's Day, HUSKY HUNT, jamming in Ryder at 11 at night, lik-ing dis if u cry evertim, doing homework in the room of whoever's door was bolted, watching Thomas the Tank Engine, playing Kings, shooting A True Gentleman, Relay for Life, impromptu adventure in the North End, two ships passing in the night, cleansing my palate, stealing dining hall cookies, the midnight Hunger Games premiere, the Rageous War, family dinners, Snow Ball, ALL the That's What She Said and Sounds Like My First Time jokes, Grease-Sing Along, eating sushi in class, agreeing that Indian food is always a good idea, questioning each other's taste in fruit, maneuvering sailing/musical debris every night, surviving the Poltergeist, LOTS of tickling, that time we wrote a musical about dancing zombies, an eighteen page paper on Wicked, getting through Saint Patrick's Day, reading the Manual, CALL ME MAYBE?, suggestively reading Cosmo to each other, the Christmas Rager, fermenting yeast, the Hot Guy Wall, The Art Exhibit, long walks by the Charles, NUSO concerts, erratic sleep schedules, those times we shared all the details of all the stories, and most vividly, seeing each other off one by one.

Next fall as the Sexy Six of Six-Sixteen can't get here quickly enough  Those I haven't hugged in person recently took some photo spamming to the wall, and I'm just more anxious to see your smiling faces. Come back, please?

THANK YOU.  Everyone who played any small part in making my freshman year at Northeastern so fantastic deserves the most sincere thank you, from my parents, for letting me go, to the dining hall workers who didn't speak English.  All the Tremont Street Raiders, all the music majors, the RAs, the Pep Band people, the professors, and every student I met helped make this the most epic year I could have dreamed up.  There are things I'd do differently, and things I wouldn't change for the world.  I'm just glad it all happened.  I'm proud of who this year has helped me become, and I owe it to beautiful Boston, Northeastern, and every single Husky I've met for helping me grow so much.

I truly can't wait to see you all again soon.

1 comment:

Let the bashing of my personal musings begin!