Your Token Reflective Post: Looking Back on BU

Bye bye, Boston...

I'm not leaving Boston University with any form of resentment, regret, or chagrin (I still cringe at that word because of its overuse in the piece of crap that is the Twilight series!). No, BU is a fine school. It just wasn't what I thought it would be. Or maybe I'm not what it thought I would be. Either way, it doesn't fit.

I'll be taking with me some good memories. Among them are the following:

• Meeting my friend Aaron for the first time. We were both looking for the music rooms in the basement of our dorm. It's one of those moments that feels like there could be no explanation for our meeting other than fate. That night, we talked effortlessly for hours, like we had already known each other before coming to college. He ended up being my best friend, one who's been there for me unconditionally the last two years, despite my constant flaking on our plans. I'm glad he's staying in Boston for the summer because going home next Thursday will feel less like we're saying goodbye forever.

• Halloween 2008. We tried looking for a frat party to go to, but none of them were letting any more people in. We ended up partying with a bunch of 30-year-olds. They were awesome! They gave us tons of candy and let us drink their alcohol for free AND set us up in their entertainment room with a big screen TV to watch the Exorcist. Plus, all of them were decked out in these amazing costumes; it was nice not being surrounded by a bunch of whores!

• My first BU hockey game. We didn't have tickets but managed to sneak into the student section via a meticulously conducted operation involving the handing off of other people's passes. I felt so filled with school spirit as I cheered on the Boston Terriers with the bass drum and cowbell ringing in my ears.

• Nailing my solo in concert band. As first chair in the BU Concert Band, I was given the solo in Alfred Reed's "Armenian Dances." That shit's hard, man! The entire part is in 5/8 time! But I practiced and practiced and practiced, and after flubbing countless times in rehearsal, I finally nailed it at the concert. It felt swell.

• Giggling for hours about I don't even know what. Granted, that was back in the days when I actually still smoked weed (those days have since ended as of earlier this year). This one night, Aaron, Louie, Mike, and I went out in the below-zero weather and lit up on the roof of some building nearby. We went back to Louie's room and, after we thawed about, started talking about the weirdest things... Louie was telling some story about how he got really sick on a skiing trip and crapped his pants on the slopes, and Mike and I starting giggling uncontrollably. Not laughing, giggling. We couldn't breathe. I almost threw up. But it was so funny!

• Doing the Ghosts and Gravestones tour for the first time last year. I did it again this year, but last year's was better. I highly recommend it! You learn some really intriguing things about the dark side of Boston.

• Seeing my Anthropology teacher crack a bullwhip outside of the College of Communications. That guy was so cool. He had tattoos on his forearms of a Sifaka (lemur) and a Tamarin. He left BU at the end of last Spring to start a collie farm in Virginia.

• Bedtime this year with my roommate. Alex is the sweetest girl in the entire world. We've had many a night, as we lay in our beds with the lights off, where we shared funny stories, our hopes and dreams, our thoughts on God, and other deep information about ourselves. She's been my only true girl friend at BU. I'm going to miss her lots and lots.

• Training with the Student Support Network. I wish BURN (the new name for SSN, standing for BU Resource Network) started last year because this has been the best thing to happen to me since I started at BU. I and about 25 other people went to hour-long meetings for six weeks to learn how to be empathetic listeners, recognize signs of depression, anxiety, and other mood disorders, and intervene in cases where we suspect someone is contemplating suicide. In the meetings, we shared our experiences with each other to help illustrate some of the topics at hand, and in doing so, we all grew much closer together. This group has made me realize that I am not the only one who felt alone at BU and struggled with sadness. I am sad to leave BURN behind because I feel like this program is going to continue on for years after this first trial run, and I would have liked to help it grow and extend its services to other BU students who feel like I have felt the last two years.

• FINALLY going to Mike's Pastry and Modern Pastry in the North End. I got carrot cake and some mocha pastry thing. They were delicious.

• Going to the Harry Potter exhibit at the Science Museum with the Crawford Clan. It was so neat seeing the props from the movies! I especially liked the models of Buckbeak, Fawkes, and the Centaurs. Magical Creatures would have certainly been my favorite class if I were a student at Hogwarts.

So, as you see, I do have some good times at BU to remember later in life. They just didn't happen frequently enough to make me want to stay here. If I'm going to spend $52,000 on school, I want to cherish every single day (or at least most of them). I want to be one of those kids who, during summer and winter break, can't wait to go back to school so I can see all my friends. I want to be able to share stories about college with my kids and grandkids that bring a tear to my eye. I want college to finally be what it's supposed to be: the best years of my life.

I'm excited to start over, to get another chance to make all this happen. I think Smith will give me plenty of ammunition to do it.

Hello, Northampton!