Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Time to say goodbye, for now

Yet another academic school year is nearing its end. It is the season of flowers blooming and warm sunshine beating down upon us. Yes, it is the season of pollen as well. The runny eyes and wheezing noses are enough to tell anyone that.

In the college world, the beginning of the true spring is marked by the increased stress levels that come with final exams and papers. Many college students pray for the glory days of summer to come a little bit faster.

However, the end of the academic school year also means that it is time to say farewell to many of your friends. This is never a fun task. These are the people that you have just spent the past eight months around. You have most likely seen more of them than your own family.

Underclassmen can take comfort in the fact that after three refreshing months, they will see their friends once again. For seniors, things are not that easy. If you are a senior graduating, you have just reached a vital fork in the road. You are on the starting block of your new life. You will not be coming back to school to carouse with your friends. Instead, you will be entering the realm of life that we so often hear adults call ‘the real world.’

If you are a graduating senior, you may be sitting in a state of shock, wondering if it can already be over. It seemed just like yesterday that you were sitting at orientation, wondering what the future held.

You may be remembering the sweet innocence that you felt at that orientation of entering that new phase of your life. That taste of beautiful freedom that you felt during your freshmen year. That feeling of independence throughout your four years of college. All of those friendships that you discovered in a world not color-coded with the name of your hometown community written all over it.

Suddenly it’s all over, and you are left wondering what to do with all of the pieces of yourself that you have fused together over the years. It’s probably the same feeling that you had after graduating high school. Only this time, the leaving and entering of one part of the world to the next is real. It can be scary. Your life may feel like a Bob Dylan song where the answers are just ‘blowing in the wind.’

The one thing that may be scaring you the most, even more than the fact that you must find a job, is the fact that you think that all of those friendships are gone. This is where nothing can be further from the truth. If you are true to yourself and know who you are, you will keep the friends that touch your heart so much.

Maybe this theory I have is not true. For some, it probably isn’t. However, for others it may be. My theory is that the friends that you make in college are more pure than your childhood friendships.

Most of us have childhood friends. I have childhood friends. Some of us will have childhood friends until the day that we depart this Earth. Many of these friendships are pure. The question is what is pure? Many of our childhood friends are results of growing up together. That’s understandable. However, have you ever noticed how some childhood friends just drift away? This could be as a result of not having common interests.

In college, we are maturing from young adults into full adults who have purpose. In that purpose, we find the people that we bond with. In that sense, our college friendships are cemented in a blanket of purity. If you truly care about another person, you will find a way to keep in touch with them.

In our modern day and age, we have it easy as far as keeping in touch with people goes. We have Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. If we wish to contact an old friend, we can text them with our cell phones.

Though a junior, I know that I will have to remind myself of all of this next year when I graduate. I have a feeling, though, that I will keep in touch with my friends. Many college friends do.

Many of us, down the road, will be going to each other’s weddings and hanging out just for the fun of it. To all of those graduating seniors that are forlorn about college ending, don’t be. You are trained and prepared to move on with your life. You didn’t major in alcohol, though it may have seemed that way. Ultimately, you will find your way in life and have a wall of friends that surround you, whether they are from childhood and college, or from your adult and work life.

In the end, nothing could be truer than a sign in my parents’ home that simply reads, ‘A circle of friendship is never-ending.” ‘ ‘

Matt Kushi is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at [email protected].

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