It's a little bittersweet. I'm pretty glad I don't have to return to that godforsaken place; and yet I miss my friends and the community and even the classes. But life goes on, and I'm looking forward to starting a new chapter of my life.
Having said that, here are the things I will miss about life at Taylor. As mundane as it might be, there were plenty of good times, good memories, and good friendships.
- Living in the dorm.
I never really minded sharing a room or using a communal bathroom. It just made us all closer to each other on the wing. And there was always someone on the wing to talk to, hang out with, go to meals with, have homework parties with, go shopping with, watch LOST with, go to Starbucks with, etc.
- Campus-wide activities.
Airband, Nostalgia Night, My Generation, Reject Show, Habecker's Holipalooza, Silent Night, Study breaks, Orientation... even chapel and theatre productions and all those lame events and talks like Sex in the Cornfields.
- International events.
Oh international students. So many highs and lows with them. But mostly highs. Trips to Chicago and Indianapolis for fall break, stayovers at Dr Abebe's, movies, laser tag, mass international food cooking sessions, trying to educate the campus about our culture and laughing at their ignorance... good times.
- The Echo.
I don't know why, but ever since I worked as News Editor for the school newspaper, I've become significantly more interested in it. And yes, I will miss reading about the happenings at Taylor, the jokes that only Taylor students will get, the thought-provoking and sarcastic opinion articles, everything except the Sports section just because I have no interest in sports, period. - Fun classes.
I say 'fun' because obviously not all classes are interesting, especially not freshman orientation or senior seminar, where you learn useless things about life you already knew. But I actually enjoyed all of my major classes, like Scriptwriting, Digital Audio Production, Media, Faith, and Culture, and all that great stuff about the media. I definitely learned a lot from both professors and classmates, and there are some classes like Intro to PR or Jewelry Making or Bowling I wish I took but somehow never got the time to do so.
- People-watching and socializing in the dining cafeteria (DC) or the library or basically anywhere on campus.
I just love to people-watch, and at Taylor, there were plenty of interesting and good-looking people to observe andgossiptalk about. Like who was dating who, who just got engaged, who just broke up, who was caught drinking and put on suspension, who did something stupid/hilarious in class, juicy stuff like that. I also spent a lot of time in the library, not studying, but socializing. I don't think I've ever rented or read a book in the library in the past four years. Since the campus was so tiny and unhappening, and people were not very generous with their cars, the library was just the place to be, if you wanted to hang out with friends on campus. Plus it was open till after hours.
- The excitement of going off-campus after being stuck on campus for days on end.
Since most poor college students don't have cars (and those who do tend to be a little stingy in lending theirs to others), going off-campus for a movie or a shopping trip or a meal was rather rare, especially during the first two years. So we were always greatly appreciative whenever a kind senior would bring us out to the tiny town of Marion or Muncie to do some good old Indiana shopping - at Walmart. Indiana's not exactly the most happening place on earth, but we made the most out of it.
- Friends.
Of course. What would my college experience be without the great friendships I built with awesome people? It's a little saddening how we're separated all over the globe now, and we might never see each other again, but... maybe a ten year reunion will be on the cards.
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