University of Dayton - MyLife

The week of 'lasts'

This entire week has been all about "lasts." It's been our "last" day of Monday classes, our "last" Tuesday of classes, our "last" trip up to the Stuart freshman dorm, our "last" dinner with our community mentors, the list goes on. As we had dinner yesterday with our faculty mentors, Dr. Joe Saliba (the Provost) and Kathy Harmon (the Director of Financial Aid), it was quite sad to know that this was yet another "last" for us. Dr. Saliba and Ms. Harmon have been our mentors for our Marianist Student Community for the past two years. We have shared so many great dinners, laughs, and stories together that saying goodbye last night was difficult. Having the chance to interact with such esteemed faculty members here at UD on a regular basis was such a blessing and another wonderful thing about participating in a Marianist Student Community. It's always great to get together with the two of them and discuss something we all have in common: our love of UD. I have not met any two faculty members who love UD more than they do. When my housemates and I get together with them for dinner, there is always a guarantee that we will get into at least one conversation about why we love UD or ways we'd love to improve the university that we are so fond of. Last night, as my roommates and I discussed with them our plans for the next week and a half and the many "lasts" that are still to come, it was quite emotional. In the words of Dr. Saliba, he said "oh stop talking about these 'lasts,' you're going to make me cry!"

Another "last" that occurred yesterday was our trip to Stuart, as I mentioned earlier. Stuart is where I lived this past summer, but it was also where the majority of my friends lived our freshmen year. Each dorm celebrates mass in their chapel once a week on a different day and Stuart Mass has always been on Tuesday evenings. During my first year at UD, it became a tradition for my friends and I to attend all the different dorm masses throughout the week, and Stuart Mass was definitely one of our favorite. So last night at around 8:30pm, we headed up to the dorm on the hill. Before going to the chapel to gather with other seniors whom we had all planned to go to one last Stuart Mass together with, we decided to walk through the hallways of the dorm and visit our old rooms. As we chatted with some of the girls who lived in my friends' old rooms, we gave them some good "upperclassmen" advice for them to keep in mind as they look ahead to three more years at UD. "Study abroad,live at UD over the summer, and go on a breakout!" These are the words of advice I impart on every freshman I meet, because those three things have some of my best memories at UD.

Speaking of another "last," I am about to go have my "last meal" in Marycrest, the dorm I lived in when I was a freshman. Although it has been renovated and the dining hall isn't even remotely similar to what it was when I lived there (that makes me feel old!), my friends and I are headed up there for a celebratory lunch so we can say goodbye to the dorm we all know and love...even though it doesn't look the same on the inside anymore, the memories from 3 and a half years ago are still there so we plan to reminisce as all the freshmen in there will look at us like we're crazy!

Apr 22, 2009 12:54 PM Permalink