the goodbye is coming

As I draw near the end of my school year, I should be extremely overwhelmed with all the projects that are rapidly coming due. I have five papers due in the next two weeks, which is incredibly stressful. As these deadlines approach, however, I am not really focusing on the schoolwork, but on the abrupt end that will follow all these due dates. I have entered a phase of sad, sweet mourning for my school.

Today I was thinking... how can I possibly explain this school to an outsider, to someone who has never experienced its unique culture? There is really no way to describe the incredible sense of being a part of this family. In one walk across campus (unless you have been here, you have no idea how short that walk really is), you are sure to be greeted by about ten people and hugged by six. Professors' doors are always, always open. Students enter those offices far less to discuss academics than they do to simply talk about life. I have done my fair share of talking to professors about life, and I have become a much better person for it. The professors are warm and loving, and it truly shows.

This afternoon I spent several hours just working outside in the sun. I talked to many students walking between classes or just wandering around campus, then worked for an hour with a friend who is also on the maintenance crew. I actually sincerely enjoyed work today because I could just talk and laugh and savor my friendships with all the people on campus.

At dinner immediately following, I sat alone to finish some overlooked reading before my 6pm class. Within 10 minutes, I was joined by 8 people carrying plates of food--some close friends, some average acquaintances. I didn't finish the reading, but I don't regret it. The time spent bonding and laughing was worth the quiz points I might lose. The spirit of this school is so alive and dynamic and... amazing. I can't begin to tell you what makes up our unique culture, what has led to all the deep friendships I have developed, and how very much I love everyone on this campus. There is no real division between the in and out groups, no barrier to communication between professors and students--there is just us, the collective body of this college.

As a side note, for those of you who are concerned, I am studying and learning at this school (remember the five papers part of this post?), but the education is so very much richer because it occurs in the context of such powerful relationships.

In a few weeks this spirit will be snuffed. The amazing people I have grown to love will be scattered to the four winds. Knowing that my time here is so limited makes my last weeks so meaningful and yet so sad. Here is to joy in the midst of pain; to those realizing that death is surely coming, but that resurrection must just as surely follow.