it's getting to be that time of year again. the beginning of school. the beginning of my most favored season--fall. i am feeling a bit sad that i won't be at u of i any longer--where the fall is the most beautiful experience on earth. but, that being said i am ready to move on to my next adventure.
i'd like to share this little letter i wrote to the university of illinois just so there are no hard feelings for me moving on...there is so much more i'd like to say, but i can't find the words.
A Reluctant Farewell to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:
This letter does not come from the most intelligent, most beautiful, or most productive student that has ever graced this campus. It does not come from the most well-rounded, the most wealthy, nor the most representative student But it does come from a profoundly grateful student and from one with a love that is exceptionally sincere. It comes from a student that is so heartbroken at saying goodbye to the buildings and the streets and the people that make up the university. It comes from a student that will miss the sights and sounds of Urbana-Champaign long after she leaves the campus for the last time.
The last days on campus are dwindling and I always feel the need to recognize the lovely places and feelings I had in a particular period in my life. This is a final letter to the institution that taught me more than academics. To stay longer might have prolonged the good feeling, but who knows for how much longer. Isn't it better to leave somewhere you are still madly in love with rather than let the feeling fade into resentment?
I visited my old friend Frank at the graveyard today. My last visit was bittersweet. I never would have visited the site unless I had gotten lost there one rainy night freshman year. Frank was a place of solitude, peace, and quiet intensity. Yes, it was creepy that I would visit a graveyard, but the quiet of the place always managed to calm any unease I was feeling. I had a sort of camaraderie with the grave of Colonel Frank Wilcox and his family. It was difficult to leave the graveyard for the last time. To leave something behind is always bittersweet because you have the comfort it provided, but it must be left behind for the potential of something new. I wondered as I walked out of those gates for the last time how many of my deceased kindred spirits walked with me.
I am equally reluctant to leave the House of Gourmet Chinese and Thai Restaurant. The little lady that always has a smile on her face. The little lady whose name I never got, but who always offered me a Diet Coke in replacement of the egg role I do not eat. She was always so excited to see me again and she remembered me every time I went there. The hole in the wall eateries are the best in the world. They are like hidden secrets that most of the world will never take the time to notice fully. The food was phenomenal. The owners were incredible.
The bench I always sit on during the warm weather will be missed so tremendously. The way the buildings look on Gregory Drive and the south quad will remain imprinted on my memory. I will forget their details, but I will never forget the way they made me feel when I would sit there staring at them in the warmth of spring. The renewal of the spring will always be represented through that bench.
The quiet essence of the architecture building with those spiraling stairs and dark, moody feel will be missed. While I had never stepped foot into the building until spring semester of my final year, it will be a staple in my memories of the campus.
As I prepare to leave for another period in my life, I only wish to express once more my gratitude and magnificent appreciation for everything I have learned in the past years of my life. The place U of I will forever have in my heart is big and will never be replaced. I cannot fathom that it is finally over. The beginning of fall will never be the same again.
sweeter dreams.
k
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