Trouvaille

I never knew how much I would love this place.

As a junior, my favorite place on campus has become this little circle of squat chairs in the library that faces a span of windows overlooking the main street of campus. I can see most of the dorms, as well as the entrance to the Hub, and on gorgeous days like today it almost makes being stuck inside worth it, because I can feel the life of campus around me anyway. People doing homework in the grass, groups of guys heading out for disc golf or urban golf, couples taking walks, friends having a late lunch or a cup of coffee on the picnic tables, admissions staff buzzing by on their golf carts, athletes on their way to practice. I find myself reflecting on our little campus (instead of writing my paper due at nine am). It's not expansive. It's not grand. But in the winter it looks magical (at least until we're sick to death of the snow). In the fall its exquisitely golden. And in the spring, I swear its one of the freshest and most beautiful places on earth.

Even though my time here isn't quite gone yet, I can feel the nostalgia already. This is small but beautiful place where incredible things have happened, and I can't imagine ever being ready to leave it.

But as much as I love the beauty of the scene, I know most of the attachment is born not of picturesque landscapes, but of the love and joy I've found here. And when I leave, so do a good number of the hearts and minds that walked this journey with me. We won't have left a mark on the scene, but we will have made a difference. The halls we lived in have a different atmosphere than when we came, because we affected the community. The faculty will remember some of us, even if only in exceptional papers or the memory of a certain class.

Two years from now I'll be gone. Someone else will have chosen this spot, this ring of squished looking chairs, for their study spot. They will probably choose it for the same reasons I did - the wide chairs, access to power outlets, and the view of campus. Maybe they'll love watching the life of campus around them as much as I do. And they won't even know I've been here.

But this place will still be here. Still changing people. And that's better than me being remembered.


trouvaille
n. something lovely discovered by chance; a windfall