Essence of college runs deeper than classes

I can spot a comma splice or a run-on sentence from 40 yards away. I can hit back with a provocative follow-up question or hold my own in a 30-minute conversation comparing modernist with post-modernist literature. I know the page design rules: balance, unity and effective use of white space. And I know it takes longer to work your way from the back bar to the stage at the Bluebird on a Saturday night than to hike from Franklin Hall to the School of Education. But these are not the reasons I am grateful to IU or for the four years I have spent here.\nWhat pearls of wisdom have I obtained at IU that have changed my life and have made me forever grateful for the last four years? Well, recently I discovered this independence and strength I never knew I had. A strength that came from within and a strength that comes from the amazing people with whom I surround myself. Suddenly, I find that I am no longer the 18-year-old who watched her father pull out of the circle in front of Briscoe Quad. No longer the one who had to surround herself with 15 chatting girls to feel safe in the world. The last four years have allowed me to weed through the old cliques, revealing those who help me be a stronger person. The ones I will go home to in May; the people who have always been home.\nThen there are the people who made Bloomington my home. They are the ones to whom you are asking me to say goodbye, when you ask me to write a goodbye column to IU. These people are IU to me. They are the WB Wednesday nights and Mad Mushroom's Cheese Stix. They are summertime cook-outs and studying at Border's. They are euchre, dessert at Puccini's and alleged flying dictionaries. They are breakups and breakdowns and hand-holding through all the bad times. They are the ones who watch as I am tested and help me learn from my mistakes. (My many, many mistakes!)\nSomewhere, between Third and 10th streets, this strength and independence emerged. Maybe in Dunn Meadow in view of the roof-roosting Sigma Chi guys, or trying to find a parking spot at the Main Library or walking past the preacher behind Woodburn, I found the strength to be myself and to be independent. The exact location is arbitrary. The importance lies in each individual who allowed me to be myself.\nSo, I can say goodbye to the School of Journalism, Ballantine Hall and to any limestone structure looming on campus that four years ago seemed so daunting. I will appreciate and try to remember the lessons taught me in their classrooms and lecture halls. But I will not say goodbye to the essence of this campus, to the friendships I have made during the years. \nI imagine many seniors are discovering the importance of the friendships they have made here, how integral to our daily lives these people have become. The complex way they provide support, while allowing and encouraging our independence. We have all been building up to this point when we could walk away, on our own and not afraid, knowing we will never really be alone. And with no goodbyes.