The people I met in college…
When sitting down to write this article…I wasn’t sure the direction I wanted to take. I have had so many incredible opportunities and it was overwhelming to think how I could comprise it into one article. So instead, I write about the people who I met. The people who have shaped me into who I am today.
The last people I met were the people who I bonded with on career choices and my final projects. The people who shared my love of story-telling and broadcast. Though I wish I met and became close with these people earlier, it has been such a pleasure to work with them. I will always look back and be grateful for the stressful nights and falls that made us into stronger professionals.
This year, I met and worked with a strong group of editors and journalists without whom this paper would not exist. My Sunday people would always spark some sort of inspiration in me. Though I tried not to run a Spectrum Meeting too long, these people were always open to brainstorming and story mapping with me and I am so proud to have been able to work on such a great project with them.
This year brought a new RSA staff, and with it, new friends. ResLife is a funny place but with it, you get to grow your circle and I’m very happy with how my circle grew.
Last summer, I stayed at school…so it counts. I grew close to someone who might have been just as involved as me. We made great suitemates that summer and she made a great running coach.
Also last summer, I got to work with and grow closer to someone who quickly became one of my favorite people at SHU. This person became a mentor, friend, recipe-sharer, and cheerleader to me and will be one of my hardest goodbyes. If you ever have the chance to stop into Student Life, be sure to say “Hi” to Bonnie for me.
My junior year was full of new friends….most of which I met over zoom. The people who turned their cameras on and spoke during horrendous zoom classes became a friend to me, making Zoom University a bit more tolerable.
In the few in-person classes I had junior year, I met a driven group of students who quickly became my role models. These people motivated me to be a better writer, story-teller and journalist. They also taught me not to take life too seriously. Cheers!
That year also brought me a new ResLife staff. This one was the second group at the Marriott. What many thought would be a quiet bunch…ended up being the most chaotic. These people held me together through the ups and downs of college during Covid. Though I don’t see these people every day, I know they are always here for me, and I them. When life gets tough…you need these people.
Sophomore year was time cut short, but through the traumatic events of entering a global pandemic, these people became some of my closest friends.
From Utah, Long Island and even across the pond, my first ResLife staff was wild. These people helped me find my path at Sacred Heart and supported me in all the crazy things I was involved in. When the pandemic started…before it was even classified as a pandemic, these people were right there with me, trying to understand what the heck was going on in the world. Crazy memories that made life long friends.
This was also the year that my freshman year friends and I decided to grow our little circle. We scoped out some people who looked nice and a little weird and thought they would be great additions. Some ran away…some stuck around…I’m glad they did. We weren’t afraid to jump out of our comfort zone together and it paid off…and it all started with a pumpkin.
…and speaking of freshman year…
Some of the first people I met at SHU became influencial mentors to me. I had an interview for a work-study position in Student Life and I truly had no idea how much that would shift my life. My time in Hawley Lounge that year was like no other, and I am so happy I scored that job. A wild group of people who I will never stop going to advice for.
To the people who told me “Your freshman year friends are not the friends that stay with you until the end”…sorry, you were wrong.
I’m not sure how it happened…but they stuck around (I tried to get rid of them!)
These best friends bring so much joy to my everyday..it’s going to be tough not having them around all the time. They are my people.
Included in that group is my freshman year roommate…again I know, I’m lucky that she still tolerates me. But she is truly one of the most influential people in my life. At a time where I felt so alone, away from home, on a college campus full of people who I thought could never relate to me…she understood me.
My bestest friends here are one of a kind. Sounds cliche, but I mean it. To be able to find genuine people who know you better than you know yourself is so rare. Thank you for sticking around.
The people I met freshman year met a very different version of me. But still, when I see them at Red’s or for a quick chat in the halls, it’s as if no time has passed. I am so grateful for all the people who welcomed me to SHU with open arms and stuck by me through the years. Even including that weird kid from orientation. Watching you all attend your first club meeting to then becoming the President of the organization…. to late night studying for your first big exam and now celebrating your grad school admission….to the first President’s Gala, to buying our outfits for Senior week festivities…boy has it flew by. It has been such a pleasure and I can’t wait to see where we all go.
And that’s it! Just kidding. I could fill a newspaper describing all the people I met. Sure, the people I mentioned were impactful…but so was everyone I met here at SHU. This place is special and it’s so hard to say goodbye.
