Growing Up Together

By Amanda de Lauzon
Features Editor

I still remember so clearly the move-in morning of freshmen year. I was taking the ferry from Long Island to Bridgeport, terrified about how much my life was changing.

It was warm and sunny that day and I was in denial that my parents ever had to leave me there alone.

I didn’t know then how much I would grow as a person and the amazing people I would meet throughout my time at Sacred Heart.

I moved into my tiny room in Roncalli with my two roommates that I barely knew. Their décor was matching black and white, while mine was bright teal.

I was so scared but my roommate Gab assured me that we would both be okay.

My parents left and I realized that I now had to fully learn to be on my own.

Gab and I began college together as Health Science majors and then quickly both of us switched to Communication and Media Arts, as we both realized our love for that type of work.

While we both loved being at home and being with our families, we learned together to try new things and to put ourselves out there. Gab became an RA, which she is undeniably amazing at, and someone I know I can always count on as we moved into our sophomore year.

I moved into J-Hill the next year with my friend Michelle and a big group of girls. I quickly became best friends with the group and we learned together how to look out for each other even when things get hard.

My roommate Michelle became the person I went to for everything and I know that will be something that lasts for life.

We had some of the most fun ever that year just walking to the diner at night or having movie nights in our living room.

When my three best friends and I decided to move into our little house close to school, we never thought of it as a huge step into being adults.

We decided sophomore year we wanted to lease a house together and went looking.

Finding one we all loved was obviously hard but we continued the journey as it was a big decision and we wanted to stay there for two years together.

One day we went and visited one that we all agreed was our house.

While so many other houses we looked at had a college type feel this one was different, it was a home.

We moved our stuff in summer 2018 and all met up in August to move in together for real.

This is when we realized how different life was. We had the freedom to do anything and to go anywhere.

We had so many memories in that house that I will forever think of it as a home.

From our Monday bachelor nights with our Dingle friends to Becca trying to show me how to cook and my food lighting on fire, the laughs we had within those walls I will cherish forever.

Michelle, Jess, Becca and I sitting around to watch Disney channel original movies at night or our dance parties in our living room — these things that felt so small and insignificant I miss so much now.

It was a time where I learned to be my own person.

I learned so much about what it means to be a friend just within those walls.

We grew up together in our little Bridgeport house five minutes away from school and it’s a time I will never take for granted.

Each person I met taught me a different lesson, a different reason why I came to Sacred Heart, and why I am so sad to leave.

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