Day 19 - A picture and a letter

www.utexas.edu

Dear Texas,

It wasn't love at first sight, or even second sight.  But I knew when I made the decision to go here, it would be a good one.  I have never regretted it since, and my past five years here have been greater than I ever imagined.

My earliest memories of the campus were orientation.  There were the cheers, the midnight prowl, and of course, the experience of staying in the infamous Jester dorms.  I remember feeling nervous and so small walking around the 40 Acres with so many people around me.

Things have changed since then.  Somewhere between my first days as a bright-eyed freshman and my last days in class, I've grown to love it here.  Below are the lessons that I learned each year:

Freshman Year:  I met so many intelligent, fun, interesting people that were different from me.  Free food and t-shirts were common, and in fact, became an expected part of my weekly routine.

Sophomore Year:  I realized that classes were a lot easier my freshman year, and I had more free time back then than I realized.  While I treated my first year as a buffet, trying to sample all of the activities and organizations around campus, my second year was more like dinner at a sit down restaurant.  I focused my time on certain people and groups and developed those bonds even deeper.

Junior Year:   Finding time to hang out with friends, keep up with school, do extracurriculars, and recruit for internships is possible, but some of these facets of my life had to take the back burner.  This was the first time I started seriously thinking about my life beyond college.

Senior Year:  Everyone said Junior year classes were the hardest.  I kept telling myself that for three semesters straight, but each semester, the classes just got more difficult.  The fall semester of my senior year proved to be the most challenging one, but thankfully it went downhill from there.  This was a turning point for me, and I began to see my time in school as very precious.

Super Senior Year:  Making time for friends and getting to know people you were not close to before or never thought you would click with is what I valued most.  It's as if we're at a turn in the road where we can see for miles down the past road we just took and also for a distance up the road that lies ahead of us.  And in trying to savor that moment where I wanted to take the whole view in, I wanted to explore the city and campus again as if I were a freshman, but this time with a plan and focus.  I can truly say that I lived up my time here, and I would do it again if I could.

I will miss the opportunity to learn new things and be challenged and taught by professors whose brains are filled with knowledge.  I will miss the countless hours of playing volleyball with friends and strangers alike.   And most of all, I will miss the people who made my time here the best time of my life.  Thank you, Texas, for everything.  You're in my heart forever.

Hook 'em!