My Last Days At The University Explained: My Final Goodbyes

I remember my sister and I talking while eating oranges one friday evening. Randomly she said, “V, don’t you realize that one day our parents picked us up and then put us down. After that, we were never carried again.” I said, “Lol, D, you’re hilarious.” However, I knew her words were true. Sometimes in life, we don’t know how much we appreciate things until they are gone. 

Wednesday, March 11, 2020: Studying for my clinical chemistry final

It’s Wednesday, March 11, 2020. I am studying the material for our last final exam-clinical chemistry. I had a whole plan. I was going to study the remaining of the time I came back from taking my micro final. So I did just that. I drove to Starbucks and was studying chemistry. I was looking at tumor markers. All of a sudden, my phone was blowing up. One of my group chats said it was confirmed that we were going to have school online for the remainder of the semester. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I closed my notes, packed my things, and got a bite to eat. I couldn’t concentrate.

Fire and Ice

I got food because I thought to myself, “I can’t concentrate.” There’s no way I am going to study the rest of the material for tomorrow’s test. I got my food to go and told my roommate all about it. On top of the news, we had a mandatory meeting for the dorms. I thought, “great, another 30 minutes of my time.” The remainder of the night, I was so dissonant. 

Dorm mandatory meeting

It was 9:30pm and all the girls came to the chapel to have a talk about the COVID-19 situation and how that would impact the school from what we knew so far. A couple people asked questions and not many questions were answered. My friends and I went back to our room. One of my friends and I knocked on our other friend’s door like crazy. That’s how we approached our RA/friend and it annoyed her all the time lol. This time, we both shed some tears because we thought the same thing. Nothing was going to be the same again. 

Morning studying

The next morning I woke up around 5:30 am. I prayed and had my devotion. After praying, I set out to study in a study room. There were two girls in there studying as well. When it was around 8:00 am I went to get breakfast at the cafe. I ordered my omelette and went out to find a table. I then saw one of my friends. We talked for a little bit and then I went to get my omelete. After a while, he said, “Okay bye Vanessa, I don’t know when we’ll see each other but I’ll see you.” “Okay, bye.” It was all too sad, I held back some tears. 

My walk to the science complex: Thursday March 12, 2020

It’s time to walk one last time to the science complex. I walk to the science complex not even focusing on the exam, but focusing on how everything would be different. I will no longer see my friends anymore. My squad that I found for life. I get to the classroom. Our department director says, “Okay, we’ll give you the good news first. There’s no exam today. The dean emailed us and told us we can’t give you an exam because of the circumstances and because everything would have been too much for us all in one day.”

Farewell to my class

We still had one week after spring break. The week after spring break we were going to have a comprehensive lab final as well as an orientation about clinicals. However, Thursday, we had a mini orientation for clinicals. I was fine until we got our little going away gift. The gift was a glove filled with many cute little items. It was like, “a penny to be reminded that you still have money,’ and a marble so you know you haven’t lost your marbles, etc.” I got teary and started crying. Everything was happening too soon and I was sad it was almost all over. After our mini orientation to clinicals, we had one last picture together and then we all proceeded to say bye to one another. 

I was fine until we got our little going away gift

One last dinner and small group

That evening my friends and I had gone out to eat one last time. We ate, laughed, and enjoyed more time together. Additionally, we went to our last small group after dinner and we sang and talked about our year together. We also played games until like 2 am in the morning lol. We shed some more tears because goodbyes are never liked.

Friday, March 13, 2020

On Friday morning, two of my friends left. We helped them pack last minute things and they were on their way. I then proceeded to finish packing my own things. Time flew of course. Night time came and it was time to say goodbye to 3 of my other friends. It was so sad. It was sad because I knew this was it. I said goodbye and I heard the words of one of my friends say, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” I said, “Yes, we’ll talk during lunch tomorrow.” I then went inside my car and drove home. 

Yes, we’ll talk during lunch tomorrow

Last parting words

Tomorrow isn’t promised. From wars, climate change, school shootings and pandemics, life is an enigma. However, one thing is certain. God is always present. Through the joys of our days and the uncertainty of tomorrow, we can rest assured that God never fails and is always in control. We shouldn’t worry because we know that this life here on earth is temporary. There is much greater joy because we will walk streets of gold in heaven. Until then, let’s spread peace in a world full of chaos. The scriptures say, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Be the light. Be at peace. Be the hope in somebody else’s life. Spread love at times where people need to be loved the most.