How to Say Good-bye to Your Campus

Spring blossoms at the author’s alma mater.  Mount Holyoke College, thank you for the memories, the lessons, and the growth. (Image credit to author.)

It’s that time of year when seniors across the country begin the process of saying good-bye to their home of four years.  For most, it’s a bittersweet time filled with both genuine excitement for the future and the sadness of saying farewell to the place they’ve called home.  College is a time of great personal growth and change, and saying good-bye to the physical place where all of these transformative moments have occurred can be hard.  So how, exactly, do you say good-bye?

Take photos.  Photograph everything you love about your campus.  Take pictures of the trees laden with spring blossoms and backlit by the fading rays of springtime sun.  Take pictures of the places that were the most significant to you, from the room where you took your favorite class to your dorm room.  Taking photos is a great way to capture the places that meant to most to you and to take them with you wherever you go.  Photos will allow you to look back on your best memories and will give you a tangible link to your campus.

Go for a long walk.  Stroll through your campus at different times of the day.  Take a moment to notice all of the things that you might otherwise take for granted.  Notice the beautiful architecture of the buildings, the way the gardens have been landscaped, and the well-worn paths that have been travelled by so many feet before you and will continue to be travelled by many long after you leave.  Take a moment to feel connected to this sense of history; as a graduate, you will become an integral part of your college’s long and storied history.  But take care not to lose sight of your individual connection to your alma mater: Make a special effort to visit your favorite places on campus.  They don’t have to be especially picturesque…they just have to mean something to you.  Visit your favorite classroom or your favorite exercise bike at the gym.  Take the time to fully experience each place you visit, and allow yourself to feel any and all of the emotions that your visit may bring up.

Spend time with the people that made your campus home.   Make time to have dinner with your friends, especially those who aren’t in your graduating class.  Sunbathe on blankets in the center of campus with all of your best buds.  Take pictures of the faces that made your college experience meaningful to you.  Watch movies late into the night in your best friend’s dorm room.  Reminisce with your fellow classmates on the challenges and triumphs of the last four years.  But don’t just focus on your peers.  Visit with your favorite professors.  Drop by your advisor’s office one last time, just to chat.  Talk with the members of the dining staff that made you smile, visit the librarian who helped you through that big research project, and thank the people who made you feel welcome when you first arrived on campus four years ago.

Give yourself permission to be sentimental.  Be honest and open about how you feel.  Share your feelings with friends and family.  And realize that there is no right or wrong way to say good-bye.  Trust your instincts and know that just as leaving high school for college was once unthinkable but turned out to be amazing, the next stage of your life will bring happiness and growth that you could never have imagined.  So yes, saying good-bye is hard, and chances are you will ride a roller coaster of emotions in the coming weeks.  But graduating college is something to celebrate.  Be proud of yourself and celebrate the place that helped you learn and grow.