After we performed and brought laughter, music, and dance to the stage of the Gregory Center, Meaghan, Harper (my roomie!), and I decided to go grab milkshakes at Cookout - the local late-night food hangout spot. We returned to Milligan where I went to watch a movie with Hannah and her roommates. I returned to my room around 1 AM full of joy.
As I laid in my bed I began to think... I love college. I don't ever want to leave. Yeah, I left my internship at Mountain wanting to graduate early so I could grow up and go into full time ministry and do what God created me for. But now that I've been back for a while, that's the last thing I want to do (not the ministry thing, but the growing up thing). In college I have immediate access to 50 friends at any given moment. In college there are activities available every single night - lip synching competitions, movie nights, worship sessions, festivals, sand volleyball matches, soccer games, fundraisers, cookouts, plus more. All I have to worry about is getting my homework finished. I get to begin my days with endless amounts of learning ahead. I can take spontaneous roadtrips. I can plan WHATEVER I want for my breaks. I can sleep in til 10 AM and take afternoon naps. If I'm feeling sad I can walk across the parking lot and have a number of friends comfort me. I have unlimited access to many professors who are rooting for me and challenging me. I have millions of books and journal articles and educational materials at my fingertips in our library database. I have someone who cooks all three meals for me every day. Every day is an adventure, because I never know what will happen.
There I was, 1:30 AM thinking about the beautiful stage of life I am in, when I realized that it's not going to last much longer. I have 3 semesters left before I have to grow up, get a 9 to 5 job, manage responsibilities, be boring. Well, I don't have to be boring, but that's how it works in my mind. THEN I realized that one of my closest friends here, Meaghan, is graduating in May, and I'll have to spend my senior year at Milligan without her. We've been close since week 4 of freshman year, and thinking about being here without her by my side makes me sad. Really sad. I'm trying to think of more intelligent sounding adjectives than that, but in reality, I'm just going to be sad. Yes, I have many incredible friends who aren't graduating, and I'm looking forward to spending countless days living life with them. But it's just going to be different. With Meaghan I can be 100% honest, 100% weird, 100% myself, 100% of the time. I can tell her what I'm thinking, and even if she judges me, she loves me anyway. She knows where I fall short, and she knows where I excel. She knows what upsets me and what makes me passionate. She knows my lazy tendencies and celebrates with me when I work hard and succeed. She goes out with me in the cold at 11 at night when I put off taking pictures so that I stay safe. College without her will just be different.
Cue Danielle crying herself to sleep.
But that's 6 months from now. So in the meantime I will focus on the adventures of each day. Meaghan, here's to many more dinner dates, a Harry Potter marathon, a few roadtrips, a couple more late night photo adventures, some WalMart runs, a dozen New Girl episodes, a few nights of contra dancing, some snuggle sessions, and limitless hugs.
I may only have 3 semesters left, but I'm going to make them count. Sure, I'll spend some hours studying, but I will focus mainly on the relationships I have here. Yes, the more I invest in the people here the more tears I'll have at graduations, but the more I invest in the people here also means the more joy I'll have on the days until graduation and the years after.
