This is part love letter,
part scrapbook, part day in the life. It's about the people that fill up these
days and the places that stand witness to these moments. This is me, saying
thank you, in the only way I know how. With pictures and with words. With laughter
and with smiles. This is me showing you Hiram through my eyes. Through rose
colored glasses and blue tinted shades. From my 2nd floor window and my
favorite table in the dining hall. From late nights, to early mornings, to days
filled to the brim with everything I love. It's not always smiles, to be sure,
but I am trying my hardest not to dwell on the bad. I don't want to leave here
with a head full of unhappy memories.
I tend to romanticize places,
no more than when I am about to leave them. Hiram has had a huge impact on my
life, and leaving has only helped me realize how much I care about this place. And
it’s not just the buildings, though there are some memories tied to those, it’s
the people I've met here and how much they care—about the world, about each
other, about me, about everything.
I’ve gotten comfortable here, in a way that I haven’t felt
in a long time. I've found a place I feel safe and loved and cared for, and
where I feel like I can do the things I want to do and be the person I want to
be. I’ve found a sense of freedom and trust and community.
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At Hiram I've found some really great people. And I’m sad to
leave them, but hopeful that the relationships I've found here will last. Through
emails or letters, facebook chats or skype calls, visits or some cool future
hologram phone that I am sure will eventually exist. I won’t forget the late
night sing alongs and the meals where we spent hours and hours just talking and
laughing until the dining hall kicked us out. I won’t forget the board games
and the movie nights and yelling at bad movies and spending time at the
playground instead of on homework. I’m trying not to forget all the little
things that make up the bigger picture.
But I guess it’s time for a new adventure. Time to learn new
things and meet new people and go new places. Find new nooks where I can sit
and see the stars. Find new friends who want to do silly things. Watch more
people react to hearing me laugh for the first time. I’m learning that ‘new’ is
just another way of saying ‘more’. That new doesn't replace old—it just adds to
it.
This isn't the first thing I've written about my time at
Hiram, and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I tend to get nostalgic. But let me
just say thanks. It’s been fun.
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