Almost a year ago, I left my summer sublet and internship in Boston and flew south to finish up my last year of school. Starting my senior Fall semester was a whirlwind. I took the hardest class in my major, I ended a relationship, I had to start facing the pressure of networking & career searching, and I was still involved in way too many extracurriculars. At times, I felt like I was drowning, but kicking off my senior year in the Fall of 2018 led to one of the absolute best years yet.
I love the Class of 2019. Over the years we’ve all had our close friends and small groups, and studying abroad divided us across the whole world, but having everyone back on the same campus was so exciting. People put aside their differences, left their grudges behind, and started lots of conversations with some variation of the line “I’ve always known who you are, but I just wanted to actually introduce myself.”
In the last year, I spent a lot of time with some new faces, but I couldn’t be happier to have the pals I met years ago by my side. I was lucky enough to meet many of “my people” during my freshman year. Pieced together from different corners of campus and academic interests, we created our own little family of guys and gals who all left freshman year knowing they’d found a home within each other.
While I have always felt comfortable within my small group, I loved the entire class’ camaraderie that came from the intense combination of feeling sad, excited, scared, and over the moon thrilled all at the same time. It wasn’t unusual to strike up a conversation with a mere acquaintance about how many days were left to cross off on the calendar, or what their plans were for after the big day.
Some of the people I became closest with during my last months are people who I never imagined becoming so tight with. I think the Universe knows when you need certain people in your life, and it threw some very special ladies into my life on January 27th, 2019 in a big way. So, guys, thanks for taking me on a wild ride.
The urgency of making the most out of every moment was unlike anything else I had ever experienced. While schoolwork was obviously still a priority (most of the time), I think a lot of us looked at our final year as a time where we needed to soak up every moment, savor every weekend, and spend every bit of time with the people who we love. As cliché as it sounds, we all knew that our days at Dickinson were inevitably coming to an end, and now that it has, I feel like we truly ended our tenure with a bang.
I look back at photos and can’t help but smile. Reflecting on the last four years as a whole has made me so thankful for every single moment, the good and the bad. It’s so obvious to me how much I have grown as a person and couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunity to experience everything I have while continuing my education.
I’m not going to lie, moving back to California while most of my friends have stayed on the East Coast has been challenging. Coming to terms with a new reality where I don’t see them on a daily basis has been difficult and connecting through FaceTime doesn’t quite do the job!
If you saw me for even a second on graduation day, you’ll know that I was an absolute disaster, because I truly don’t know if I’ve ever felt so many emotions at one time. It was overwhelming in ways I didn’t even know was possible (thank you for dealing with my crazy @everyone).
Class of 2020 get ready. Your journey is soon coming to a close. If I have any words of advice, it’s to sleep less, live more, and cherish every second.
What am I doing now you may ask? Well, I’m figuring that out. Getting this site back on track has been on top of the list of things to do for a while and I’m just now getting there. Big things are happening! But that’s coming soon.
All my love,
A.
Alexandra Mier y Terán 