I am writing this blog post with tears in my eyes in the back of the car on my way home. I was going to wait to post the first of many blog posts this summer, but I couldn’t stop constructing this in my head.
I know we will all be back at Queen’s next term, however this April has felt like a concrete ending to a chapter in my life. I am not returning to Queen’s next year to complete a required year in my degree plan but rather, to follow an academic path that simply fits with who I am today and the person I hope to be in the future. More so than just completing my politics degree (thank fuck), switching my major almost holds the same promise and satisfication that attending an MA program next fall would. For the first time as a university student, I feel secure in the fact that I am in the right place and that this will lead me to many more great places.
It is strange to look back at our undergrad and see how much we have all changed. I am always so preoccupied with the present that I hardly give myself the opportunity to look at the past. Reflecting on first year, I can not seem to believe that that freshly 18 year old was me at all. When I think about my time in VIC1E, I think about all the different things I was exposed to, new lifestyles, people, perceptions, and copious (sometimes unlimited) amounts of alcohol. I spent so much of my time in first year desperately trying to make friends, to find someone that I would click with, luckily I ended up finding quite a few (you all included of course). While some of my initial perceptions of our original friend group were incorrect, and sometimes lacked compassion, I believe we found each other at a truly unique time in our lives, when we were just starting to understand the vastness of the world. I could never have imagined on that in my first few weeks at Queen’s I had already encountered the people who would change and alter me so deeply.
Spending time with each of you this year has consistently left me in awe and I take pride in being able to call you both my friends. Watching you find the things that inspire you to act, to write, and to feel, is something I will treasure for a long time and I am continuously learning from your acts of strength and bravery.
These past 4 years we have all grown together and a part in many ways and I cannot wait to see how the next year treats us. I do know however, that whatever comes next, the good or the bad, I promise to experience it alongside with both of you in whatever capacity you require.
With lots of love and no regrets,
Alexa
partyinthenotusa 