Where health and plenty cheered the labouring swain,
Where smiling spring its earliest visit paid,
And parting summer's lingering blooms delayed:
Dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease,
Seats of my youth, when every sport could please,
How often have I loitered o'er thy green,
Where humble happiness endeared each scene..."*
I've been preparing for this for a while. It feels like the goodbyes started almost as quickly as the hellos began as I slowly but surely ended my time associated with various people and things around Auburn. Not even halfway through my undergraduate career I was already saying goodbye to two years spent working for Camp War Eagle at probably the best job I will ever have. As junior year faded into senior year (and a half) I said farewell to other organizations for which I had served my allotted time, to friends that graduated and moved on to the next step in their lives. But I've still been here, I've still gotten to walk, daily, by the well-loved buildings and landmarks around which I've made the most amazing memories of my life. And for that I'm grateful. I'm not very good at sudden goodbyes; I like to take my time to remember what people, places, and things have meant to me, accept their place in my life and in my heart, and move on.
When I came to Auburn, despite growing up in a family that literally wouldn't exist without it, I had serious doubts I had made the right choice. I had an opportunity to go somewhere far away, somewhere with no connection to my home or my family--which has its perks. But something inexplicably changed my then 17-year-old mind, and I ended up here. I think I probably spent most of my first semester doubting that decision. I remember getting in my car one Sunday afternoon to head back to Auburn after a weekend in Carbon Hill with my parents, and bursting into tears because I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to return to the Plains. Everyone was friendly, I was doing well in school...I just didn't feel like I belonged. I didn't have a place here.
Thankfully, over the next year, my outlook did a complete 180. I got plugged in, learned about Auburn, learned how to serve Auburn, and met and befriended people that were in a similar position, just trying to find their place. I, for once, listened to my parents, and their advice about giving every person and every experience a chance, and not limiting myself to those I thought I "should" be focused on. And my time at Auburn was not only nothing like I expected, it was 10, 100, 1000 times better. By the end of my sophomore year, Auburn was paradise. I had a purpose here, I was successful at what I was doing, and more importantly, I was surrounded by so many precious people I loved so deeply, and who loved and accepted me in return.
Now, as I prepare to leave, I don't love Auburn because I'm part of the third generation in my family to come here or because it's where my grandparents met. I don't love it because the football games are fun and we have really cool traditions. I don't love it because it's given me an excellent education to take out into the world. I don't even love it because of the beautiful campus or because the people are really nice. I love Auburn because it is the place I have experienced my highest highs and my lowest lows, where I have had the experiences that have forced me to learn about myself and the world around me and to grow from that knowledge. I love Auburn because it is the real deal. The creed, the spirit, the family, the love for each other and for this university--it's not a gimmick, and it's not a joke. I've seen it change lives.
I've seen it change mine.
"Can a man be associated for five successive seasons with Grand Old Auburn, toiling for her, befriended by her, striving with her, and yet not love her? No. [...] I hope this is not the end. I hope that we shall meet again. The recollection of these years of mutual endeavor, of mutual joy over all that was good for Auburn, of intermingled sorrow over all that was bad for Auburn, shall never fade. To you, to your faculty, to your friends, who have all been so kind, so just, so unfailingly true to me that I doubt I deserve it, I say, 'Farewell...'" **
Farewell, and War Eagle. War Eagle, forever.
*Oliver Goldsmith's The Deserted Village
**John Heisman, December 1899. yes, THAT John Heisman.
quote in title from David Housel's "What is Auburn?"
I've been preparing for this for a while. It feels like the goodbyes started almost as quickly as the hellos began as I slowly but surely ended my time associated with various people and things around Auburn. Not even halfway through my undergraduate career I was already saying goodbye to two years spent working for Camp War Eagle at probably the best job I will ever have. As junior year faded into senior year (and a half) I said farewell to other organizations for which I had served my allotted time, to friends that graduated and moved on to the next step in their lives. But I've still been here, I've still gotten to walk, daily, by the well-loved buildings and landmarks around which I've made the most amazing memories of my life. And for that I'm grateful. I'm not very good at sudden goodbyes; I like to take my time to remember what people, places, and things have meant to me, accept their place in my life and in my heart, and move on.
When I came to Auburn, despite growing up in a family that literally wouldn't exist without it, I had serious doubts I had made the right choice. I had an opportunity to go somewhere far away, somewhere with no connection to my home or my family--which has its perks. But something inexplicably changed my then 17-year-old mind, and I ended up here. I think I probably spent most of my first semester doubting that decision. I remember getting in my car one Sunday afternoon to head back to Auburn after a weekend in Carbon Hill with my parents, and bursting into tears because I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to return to the Plains. Everyone was friendly, I was doing well in school...I just didn't feel like I belonged. I didn't have a place here.
Thankfully, over the next year, my outlook did a complete 180. I got plugged in, learned about Auburn, learned how to serve Auburn, and met and befriended people that were in a similar position, just trying to find their place. I, for once, listened to my parents, and their advice about giving every person and every experience a chance, and not limiting myself to those I thought I "should" be focused on. And my time at Auburn was not only nothing like I expected, it was 10, 100, 1000 times better. By the end of my sophomore year, Auburn was paradise. I had a purpose here, I was successful at what I was doing, and more importantly, I was surrounded by so many precious people I loved so deeply, and who loved and accepted me in return.
Now, as I prepare to leave, I don't love Auburn because I'm part of the third generation in my family to come here or because it's where my grandparents met. I don't love it because the football games are fun and we have really cool traditions. I don't love it because it's given me an excellent education to take out into the world. I don't even love it because of the beautiful campus or because the people are really nice. I love Auburn because it is the place I have experienced my highest highs and my lowest lows, where I have had the experiences that have forced me to learn about myself and the world around me and to grow from that knowledge. I love Auburn because it is the real deal. The creed, the spirit, the family, the love for each other and for this university--it's not a gimmick, and it's not a joke. I've seen it change lives.
I've seen it change mine.
"Can a man be associated for five successive seasons with Grand Old Auburn, toiling for her, befriended by her, striving with her, and yet not love her? No. [...] I hope this is not the end. I hope that we shall meet again. The recollection of these years of mutual endeavor, of mutual joy over all that was good for Auburn, of intermingled sorrow over all that was bad for Auburn, shall never fade. To you, to your faculty, to your friends, who have all been so kind, so just, so unfailingly true to me that I doubt I deserve it, I say, 'Farewell...'" **
Farewell, and War Eagle. War Eagle, forever.
 |
| Auburn, December 2012. |
*Oliver Goldsmith's The Deserted Village
**John Heisman, December 1899. yes, THAT John Heisman.
quote in title from David Housel's "What is Auburn?"
So proud of you and wishing for you many wonderful experiences in years to come!
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