To My Seniors

Sydney Tappan, Assistant Editor-in-Chief / Campus Life Editor

Every year for the last three years to date, we have spent our Sunday’s in August moving on to Assumption’s campus. This time around, our fourth time, does not quite meet the expectations we all had. Though I don’t miss the lack of air conditioning, I do miss the drive up Salisbury Street and that first renewed feeling of arriving back on campus.

I cannot be entirely sure what our lives would have been like had we been given the opportunity to move onto campus, as we were all supposed to. But I can tell you what it might have looked like, or at least what I imagined our fall semester of senior year would hold.

It would have begun on move-in day, as it always did, rejoicing with everyone we hadn’t seen since the previous semester, with more than enough smiles and hugs to go around. Most of us would have ended up in the valley, preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. We finally wouldn’t have needed guest passes anymore. The day would be filled with rearranging rooms and typically for me, frequent but urgent Target trips, and probably a stop at Chic-Fil-A on Gold Star Boulevard.

Classes would have begun a day or two later, Dunkin’ iced coffee in hand and not a mask. Senioritis would have definitely already kicked in, at least for me, and I can assume the same for many others. Those of us that were unfortunate enough to have 8:30 classes would leave our rooms in long sleeves in the freezing temperatures of the morning only to be sweating by mid-afternoon. A typical Massachusetts September day.

Most of us would have had common hour free where, if you’re like me and can’t cook, would have been eating lunch at Chucks. It would have been a toss-up between the stir fry or the salad bar. The first common hour in Chuck’s would have been filled with students passing through to pick up their books from the bookstore or hurrying to find a printer that works to print their syllabus ten minutes before their first class. (Disclaimer: I am guilty of this more times than I’d like to admit.)

The first Thursday night of the year would have been spent at Leits, as well as the second, third, and fourth. The first Saturday night would have been focused solely on the valley and somehow enjoying the room reach the temperature and consistency of a sauna. A fire alarm may have also been mixed in throughout the night. This would continue throughout the semester, some weekends quieter than others but we would have managed to make the best of every one of them.

The next few weeks would start blending together as everyone began adjusting to their new schedule and preparing for the next fifteen weeks of a long semester. Football games would have become another weekly event and as they progressed through the season they would have started in shorts and t-shirt just to end in jackets and hats.

Homecoming would eventually roll around as well, welcoming the alumni back to campus with foam fingers and welcome signs. Followed by Homecoming would be Hallo-weekend, arguably one of the better weekends on campus next to St. Patrick’s Day and Ugly Sweater/Christmas weekend. Again, a fire alarm may be mixed in throughout the night.

We would have hopefully not taken days in a classroom or nights in a crowded dorm room for granted, knowing each day that passed approached the day that we both dreaded and anticipated. Not to be nostalgic for the unrealistic, it would just have been nice to know that our last time was our last time. Nevertheless it is important to find the positive to every situation, even in those that don’t seem like they have any.