You guys! This is my last column, ever. I’m feeling a little nostalgic, here. That could be because I haven’t slept in a few days, but whatever. The sun is finally shining and the end is in sight. If I pass all of my classes (which, don’t worry mom, is not that big of an if), in a few short weeks I will no longer be a College Student. No, I will be a certified, real-live Adult. With a job and everything.
So, in the grand tradition of “last columns of all time,” what follows is a list of things I’m gonna miss about my time as a resident of this here Ivory Tower.
Let me start with a thing I most definitely will not miss. I’m a contrarian like that. Deal with it. Are you ready? Okay, here goes. I will not miss the stupid bells. Blasphemy, I know. But they are loud and frequently out of tune and they play terrible, tinny renditions of objectively annoying songs. Maybe when I’m 90 I’ll have changed my tune (pun intended) and I’ll be waxing nostalgic about the chimesmaster’s beautiful version of “Kiss From A Rose,” (try to shut me up, orderly) but I can tell you right now that it will be a while till I feel anything but resentment towards those reminders that I am running late, again.
Speaking of running late, I am definitely going to miss never having to wake up before 9 a.m. Ever. I haven’t had a class earlier than 10:10 since freshman year. Last semester, I didn’t have any classes that started before 11:40. I am not a morning person. Or an anytime person, really. But definitely not an early bird.
I’m going to miss all that sleeping in a lot. Especially since the real-life incarnation of Elana is going to be a high school (or junior high) teacher. That is some waking-up-before-the-sun bullshit. I predict many naps in my future.
Naps. That’s another thing I’ll miss. Naps and the copious amounts of free time that not having a concrete, 9-5 schedule allows a person. And going to Wegmans at all hours of the day and night. Wegmans, in general, I will miss. Who knew a grocery store could be so glorious?
I’m going to miss the Commons. I really like Ithaca, which is not a thing I would have expected to be saying when I first got here. I will not miss how isolated we are here, and I will definitely not miss the weather, but this is a pretty cool little town.
I will miss how beautiful it is here, when it isn’t raining or grey. “You know, Ithaca has more cloudy days than Seattle,” my dad said when I was packing up all my stuff to move here, four years ago. “Psh,” I scoffed. “I’m from Minnesota! I can handle it!” I did not say that, but I thought it. Let me tell you something. I would rather deal with the arctic cold of my homeland than the constant dreariness of this place. At least we get blue skies.
Fall in Ithaca, I will miss. I kind of never realized how scenic it is here until this year. So I’ll miss that. I’ll miss how beautiful the campus looks after the first snow, and the inevitability of people from warm climates breaking out their umbrellas when it comes down. I will miss the first nice day of spring when all of a sudden the Arts Quad is packed and you run into people you haven’t seen in months.
I will not miss roommates. My most-anticipated part of this new life and new job is having my own apartment with my very own bathroom. Imagine, being able to take a shower whenever you want. The luxury.
The having-very-few-actual-responsibilities thing is pretty nice, too. I’m gonna miss hanging out with my friends and all of that stuff, obviously. And learning things. I will most likely miss that. I probably take living in this intellectual environment for granted more than I should. But I will not miss all-nighters or prelims, that’s for sure.
I’m gonna miss writing this column, believe it or not. We’ve had some good times in these pages, right? Once, at a party, this girl was like “Hey, you’re that girl from the paper!” So I’m famous, basically. I’ll miss that. A modicum of notoriety is all I’ve ever wanted out of life. So thanks for that, Sun.
In conclusion, WOO COLLEGE. Or WOO GRADUATION. Or SENIORS. Or something.
Elana Dahlager is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She may be reached at [email protected]. Nutshell Library appears alternate Wednesdays this semester.
Original Author: Elana Dahlager