Saying goodbye cannot be learned

by Angelica Martinez
Copy Editor

I thought I had taken every course necessary in order to graduate from the University of La Verne. I assumed I had taken every required class for my major. But I was mistaken.

I never took a class that taught me how to let go.

How do you say farewell to a newsroom where you have spent 75 percent of your college career? What is the process for saying goodbye to a roommate who has seen you at your worst; was there for you at your best; and without whom you could not have survived college?

How does one bid more than 40 sisters excellent lives, knowing that life itself will lead every one of them into separate directions?

It has to be a conspiracy. One designed to keep students paying tuition. Or perhaps saying goodbye is the University's biggest lesson to be learned.

At ULV, I have had the privilege of experiencing all of the aforementioned. But not once was I told how to bid adieu.

It did not occur to me just how fast my time here would fly. At that moment, I just wanted to study journalism, pass all my classes with good grades and have a fun college experience.

Looking back, I hold no regrets. The life ULV has granted me has been more than I ever expected. It has given me memories I will never forget.

In the realm of my major, I could not ask for a better department. My professors, whom I see on a daily basis and who know some of my most embarrassing moments, are, in one word, excellent.

They have been there for me from beginning to end. Their company and support have made the Communications Department the best on campus.

The students also contributed to my memories. If it had not been for them-without their comic relief-I would not have been able to deal with the stress of deadlines. All the crazy times during deadlines and at Campus Times parties, would not have been possible.

But it is difficult to attribute what made my experience at ULV so special; there is simply too much. I know my roommate and Sigma Kappa had plenty to do with it. So did the visits to the infamous Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, the fraternity exchanges, the painting of The Rock and the "unofficial" trips we took together.

Those memories are all too vivid to forget.

Indeed, La Verne has taught me much. Yet I still have not managed to get the saying "goodbye" part right. I had a preview of it when I addressed my high school at graduation. I encountered it again when departing to and from France to study abroad.

But this farewell is different. Perhaps it is more painful because come spring semester, this year's seniors will continue the year, and I will not.

They still have one more semester. One more! How I envy them. Yet I am happy to be finished. Ecstatic. I cannot wait to put to practice what I have been learning and aspiring to do for so long.

I have been to the lectures, done the assignments, passed the courses and finished my wretched senior project (not really so wretched).

So why the catch 22? When I am finally ready to graduate, I do not want to let go.

I suppose after January, the only thing left for me to do is to settle for what I have done in the past-say goodbye. But if I do make one final suggestion, the University should really look into adding a course for departures. I think it would be helpful, as a soon-to-be-grad, I know.

Angelica Martinez, a senior journalism major, is copy editor of the Campus Times. She can be reached by e-mail at amartine@ulv.edu.