Saying Goodbye to a Great Year

It's the last week of winter semester. It's also finals week so yes I am stressed. But I think the hardest part about this week is having to say goodbye to everyone. I have made some of the greatest friends here at college. I have learned so much from them and they have made me feel so loved and I can't stand the thought of never seeing some of them again. I thought last semester was hard when we had to say goodbye to half of our FHE brothers, but now that we've lived through another semester, there are certain people I've gotten even closer to and it breaks my heart to have to say goodbye. And it frustrates me because there is so much I want to say to people but I just can't put my feelings into words. The English language really corrupts what you are feeling. And I am really awkard at saying goodbye. After someone leaves, I usually break down and start crying, but while I am saying goodbye to them, I'm really quiet and barely say anything other than "goodbye" and it sounds so awkward.

One thing I have learned though is that the hard times in our lives are put there to make the good times seem even greater, even sweeter. Growing up I had a hard time making friends, or at least making good friends, and so now that I have these wonderful friends, it makes the experience even greater to contrast it to what my friendships used to be like. I am able to really appreciate the experiences I have had here. Another example, one of my favorite memories of last semester started off as one of the most stressful nights last semester. I was so stressed out and upset, but then someone came to my rescue and the contrast between the before and after was so great that it made the experience so much sweeter and it became one of my favorite memories of last semester. It's why we love fairy tales so much, because the "Happily Ever After" is only sweet and triumphant because the story plot was so treacherous. If everything was happy and smooth sailing, we would be bored and the ending wouldn't mean much to us. So the times when we are most upset or stressed are the times when we are battling a dragon or we are locked in a tower, and someday we will have our happily ever after. In fact we see little pieces of it every day. So I thank God for all the wonderful experiences I have had this year, and I thank him for all the bad experiences I have had as they make the good ones even greater.