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Firstly, today is my 22nd birthday. And, to prove to my father (see the comment on the last entry) that this photo doesn’t embarrass me. That was me nearly 22 years ago. Not much has changed, right?

Anyway, this is the first official photo of the Class of 2011. It was taken right after the Mass of the Holy Spirit (aka cry fest).

For the past couple of entries (and arguably this entire blog), I’ve been focusing on me – my steps toward graduation, my feelings about graduation, and what I plan to do after graduation. I realize that this is just one student’s perspective and experience – there are nearly 750 other voices that could speak about their different experiences and plans for after graduation. Since 750 blogs might kill our server, I just want to briefly introduce you to some of my friends (you’ve actually read about many of them over the years) and what they’re doing next year.

First up is Carrie. As you know, Carrie and I were roommates freshman year and have been friends since then. She’s been involved with daytime admissions hosting, Peace Around the World, and Eco-Action. Carrie has achieved so much – she’s a member of College Honors, she went to Oxford, and…*drumroll please*…Carrie will be returning to England next year! She has an internship at the Coventry Cathedral working with their reconciliation and peace building initiatives.Yes, we will be about an hour away from each other next year. Dear England, I hope you’re ready.

Another name that you’ve heard quite frequently is Margaret. Margaret and I have been friends since we worked the Friday breakfast shift at Kimball freshman year. Margaret has been involved with every single student-administrator panel that exists at Holy Cross, and I’m not exaggerating. From Judicial Council to Political Science Student Committee, Margaret has been involved in it all. She also studied abroad at Oxford. Next year, she’s headed off to William & Mary for their law school, but she’s still waiting to hear back from London School of Economics.

Then there’s my other best friend, Bill. We were always really good friends, but we grew much closer this year. Bill has been involved with Liturgical Ministry, SPUD, Magis, and everything else to do with the Chaplain’s Office since day one. He’s also a double Religious Studies and Classics major, which means that our conversations have been right up my alley. He also convinced me to take Fr. Brooks’ Christology seminar, and you all know how much I loved that class. Right now, Bill is waiting to hear back from the Fulbright Scholarship (he applied for Turkey), but he also has a position with JVC.

Miriam is one of the most amazing and talented people that I’ve met at Holy Cross (and that’s saying something). Miriam has been involved in everything – from SPUD to PAW to various committees, she’s done it all. Her main focus is with PAW (Peace Around the World), and she’s brought so many guest speakers to campus to speak about Invisible Children, for instance. She spent part of her junior year in China, and she has an interview for an internship with the International Justice Mission in India later on this week. Oh, yes, she’s also our valedictorian. No big deal.

Although Colin and I have known each other since freshman year, we didn’t become good friends until Senior Year through the English Honors Program. Colin has also achieved so much – he’s a member of both English Honors and College Honors (we actually met through Ellen Perry’s Ideological Destruction of Art in sophomore year). He spent last year in Dijon, France, and he wrote his honors thesis on cartography in literature, specifically in Faulkner (when two students write about Southern Literature, you tend to get really close). Colin is going to teach English in France next year, and he plans to go to graduate school for a PhD. in English.

Grant and I have been friends since freshman year, and he’s my theater major friend. He has done everything with the theater department – he’s starred in all of the musicals and plays since day one at Holy Cross. He’s also flourished as a director, and he directs at least two one-act shows per semester. This past semester, he directed a musical called “A New Brain.” He also served as one of my team captains on the ballroom dance team this year, and he somehow found time to be a double political science and theater major. Next year, he’s headed off to work with Big Lots Entertainment Group in LA.

This is just a small sample of some of my friends and what they’re planning to do. I’ve already gone way over my word limit for this entry, which is why I’m cutting it off here. But, I’m so proud of my friends – the ones that I did mention and the ones that I didn’t. I’m so excited to see where everyone is going to take all of their many talents and their Holy Cross education.

By this time next week, I will be an alumna. That’s a frightening thought, isn’t it? The amount of good-byes that I’ve said in this past week have just made me realize how many wonderful friends I’ve been able to make here at HC throughout my four years. Take a look at what the ballroom team made for me:

They all signed it and wrote messages to me. Yes, it’s coming with me when I cross the pond, and it will be hanging in my flat in Oxford.

And, as if Holy Cross really wanted to cement the fact that I am, in fact, leaving fairly soon, check out the message that popped up when I signed into STAR to check out my grades for this semester:

Wow. I have no words – just wow.

It’s all really starting to sink in, I guess. And, yes, while I wish that I had more time with my friends and professors here, I know it’s time to move on. Holy Cross has been a wonderful experience for the past four years, and I’m sad to see this chapter in my life coming to an end.

One of the items on the campus bucket list is the famed “Kimball Challenge,” which involves staying and studying in Kimball for the entire day – 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Well, there’s a version of this challenge specifically for Kimball captains – the Kimball Marathon. The challenge? Show up at 6:45 a.m. and work until 9:00 p.m. – a daunting total of 14 hours.  Well, yesterday, Alyssa, Andrew, and I joined the ranks of the very few captains who have achieved this mark of distinction (insanity?).

This was only after Breakfast (6:45-10:15). We were still determined to last.

And the insanity begins to become evident…

Andrew working hard at the break station.

This was after second lunch (12:15-3:00).

Midway through the Midday shift (3-6). This was the killer shift. Ugh, we both wanted to leave during this shift.

See?

And this was us at 8:30.

Yes, Alyssa, Andrew, and I lasted until 9:00 p.m. It was also the last time that I’ll work in Kimball – ever. It’s a rather weird feeling – I’ve been working at Kimball since classes began my freshman year. There were times that it wasn’t glamorous (it’s a dining hall), and there were times that I wish I didn’t have a job. Yet, I’m glad that I stuck with it. Most importantly, the people that I met through Kimball were fantastic. And, of course, the paycheck at the end of the week wasn’t too bad, either… Cheers, Kimball! It’s been great.

Tonight was my last regular Mass with the entire student body on campus. Yes, there’s Mass next Sunday and then our Baccalaureate Mass next Thursday, but those are specifically for Seniors. The 10 p.m. Mass has always been my favorite – I do love the 11:30 a.m. Mass, but the sense of community at the 10 is just overwhelming. At first, I wasn’t scheduled to serve tonight (the first time I haven’t served at a Mass since…February?) because I wanted to sit with Bill, Margaret, Ashley, and Jimmy – just to really enjoy Mass. Then I received a phone call asking if I could serve. It seemed kind of fitting to serve at my last Mass, so I said yes.  It was a really weird feeling – it felt like any other Mass, laughing at our mistakes, the things we forgot to set up, and rushing around and acting like we knew what we were doing. But there was also a sense of sadness. Aside from Ballroom Dance, the Chaplains’ Office has really been my main activity on campus, be it through SPUD, MAGIS, or Liturgical Ministry. Then, as the lector read out the following intention: “And we pray for the Class of 2011 as they go out into the world…” Of course, Paul Melley then had to close Mass with “Go Out in the World.” It was quite sad. See, my first real experience of Holy Cross was during Mass on Accepted Students’ Day. Mom couldn’t stay with me and I was spending the night at HC, so I went to Mass alone. But the sense of community at that Mass just made me feel at home instantaneously. I knew that I could go to school where such a community of friendly, faithful kids could make me, that lonely little 17 year old from Georgia, feel as if I was already a part of their community. It was also that same community – specifically the 10 p.m. Mass – that made me feel so welcome after my year abroad at Oxford. I felt like I had really come home after an extended vacation. So that’s why tonight was difficult. And no, technically it’s not a good-bye since I’ll have two more Masses on campus, but it definitely won’t be the same.

After this very reflective Mass, Bill, Margaret, Brian, Mike, and I went to Midnight Breakfast, where we indulged on pumpkin pancakes, bacon, and eggs that Fr. McFarland, Dean Austin (an Oxford grad woo hoo!), and Dr. Velacchio served us. Quite a contrast…

On the second day of Freshman Orientation, Dean Goodwin met us in the Mary Chapel and gave us a piece of paper and an envelope. The envelope and piece of paper had the intimidating phrase “CLASS OF 2011” blazoned across it, and, at the time, May of 2011 seemed so far away. She asked us to write down our hopes for this year and what gifts we brought to the Holy Cross community. Then we sealed up the envelope and handed them into her. We all wondered when (more like if) we’d ever see those envelopes again.

Fast forward to this evening. I stopped by my mailbox, and there was an envelope with my freshman year handwriting on it.

I could tell it’s from my freshman year because a) that’s not how I write (well, that’s how I used to write when I was trying to make it look good) and b) I recognize the envelope instantly.

The letter itself brought me back to August of 2007. I vividly remember sitting in the Mary chapel (I can actually tell you which chair) and I remember the emotions that were racing through my mind. It was only the second day of Orientation – I still didn’t know anyone save my roommate, Carrie, and she was in another orientation group. I was lost, confused, and afraid. That reflection exercise in the Mary chapel made me sit down and focus on why I chose Holy Cross, what I expected from my education, and how I knew that this was the place for me.

My handwriting hasn’t improved. In fact, it’s become worse. Actually, “my awful handwriting” is something that I wrote under the “Gifts I bring to the Holy Cross community” section.

But reading the “Hopes for this year” part was interesting. In my typical Colleen fashion, the first one that I wrote down was “do well in classes.” But the next ones were illuminating (at least, looking back on them). I wrote that I hoped to “open my mind to new ideas in new classes” and to “make friends that will last a lifetime.” The last entry was “to find myself.” Quite bold hopes, really! But, in all honesty, I’ve been able to make those hopes into a reality. Over the past four years, I have been able to explore new ideas, challenge my old ways of thinking, find amazing friends that will last a lifetime, and, in the process of it all, discover my strengths and talents (and weaknesses too). So, yes, I plotted out a lot of hopes that seemed almost infeasible for four years. But, yet, at least I didn’t expect the most impossible – I readily accepted back then that my handwriting is awful, and there’s nothing that even a four year Jesuit education can do to change that.

Last week was Holy Cross’ Academic Conference, which consists in undergraduate presentations. The College Honors Program and departmental Honors Programs give seniors the opportunity to present our theses, and I think I received a grand total of 30 event invitations over Facebook. From Wednesday morning to Saturday afternoon, I was in Hogan either giving presentations (I had two) or watching my friends present. What was fascinating was the diverse range of topics that my friends explored for the past year. Margaret argued that fairy tales inculcate certain values of a nation state, and she explored how the rise of a country’s fairy tales is congruent with the rise of their nation/culture. Yes, she watched Disney movies as part of her thesis research – best honors thesis idea ever. Sarah explored the similarities between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide to see if there are any similar characteristics in the lead-up to both events; she was attempting to isolate a strain of characteristics that could possibly help us detect possible sites of future genocide and stop it before it happens. Bill wrote about food in the Old Testament and how it delves much further than simply offering another person bread. Carrie investigated the similarities and differences in the evolution of the knight ideal in Medieval England and fourteenth century Japan. Colin wrote about literary cartography, and made his own map of Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County.

I presented with the English Honors Panel on Friday afternoon (even though I’m a member of both College Honors and English Honors, I had to present only once). When I was preparing, I saw all of the professors walk in – Kee, Mulrooney, Oser, Ireland, Matlak, Geracht, and even Fr. McFarland. That’s when I started to get nervous. After spending a  year on the topic, I just had visions that someone during the Q&A Session would state what a terrible idea my honors thesis was. Luckily, that did not happen. In fact, quite the opposite – two professors told me that I should seek publication. Of course, they then stated, “Hm. What journal would accept that type of publication….” Yes, welcome to my future life as an academic. It really was a great experience, and I really enjoyed myself once I got in the rhythm of presenting. Everyone did a fantastic job, and I’m just overwhelmed at how brilliant my friends are.

The week ahead is a bit rough – it’s the last official week of classes. Tough to believe, right? Within that time frame, I have to finish a take-home exam for Contemporary Literary Theory, present my findings on Julian of Norwich to Pr. Kee’s Medieval Literature class, visit a convent in Connecticut to hear them sing Vespers, present the initial findings for my Chaucer final paper, and revise my thesis. That’s going to be a bit difficult to do when it’s this beautiful outside:

I graduate in exactly one month. Yes, it’s a frightening thought.

Officially, I only have a week’s worth of classes left, and my thesis will be finished by next week (it’s not due until May 9th, but I just want to finish it). There’s only two ballroom practices left, and I only have 5 Masses left at Holy Cross (including Baccalaureate Mass). Kimball’s almost finished, and I have my final reflection meeting for the Magis program next week.

And while everything seems to be rushing toward the end, I’m still enjoying my time here day by day. Yes, there’s lots of work to do (understatement. I even finished a lot of work over the break, and I still have work galore!), but I know that it will all get finished…eventually. But the late nights with friends, the conversations with professors, simply walking around campus (even when it’s raining) – I’m trying to enjoy and make time for all of those things before 10:30 a.m. on May 27th.