I'm proud of the Mapendo service trip that’s inspired me more than
anything else in my entire life, and also for the whole service trips family:
Dominican Republic, Habitat for Humanity, Blackfeet Montana and especially for
the recent strength of Project Appalachia and the support they've received from the campus community.
For travel studies to Israel and India that opened my eyes
and forced me to never look at the world the same way twice.
For kindly Treetops workers and the B&G salad bar. Late Night
La Salle bingo prizes and Xmasoke, the SGA basketball marathon and RSA’s Carnifall.
For charter dinner chocolate covered strawberries that I’m
dying to eat at the moment.
For UMAS broken blue vans, trash bash, Officer Kitchen and
Brother McGinness knowing everyone’s name.
RAs who throw late night breakfasts and RCs who give the go
ahead for zombie apocalypse water balloon fights and planking competitions
during a hurricane.
For Miguel front stoops and the downhill dirt trail to the
Neumann annex. For bushes full of bees out front of McShain and grassy slopes
by the retired Japanese tea house.
For Peers Stress Busters and Speak Up Reach Out, advisors
who encourage us to develop new ideas and implement them and see dreams come to
life. For Take Back the Night and pictures with Santa, Kissing and Petting and
Post Secret connections.
For Honors triple field trips and circle discussions with Dr.
Moreau, Basils soul sharing and late night Asia runs. For Happy Fortune and
Intermissions mozzarella sticks (bring them back, we’re all begging you!) and
for pumpkin spice lattes (guess you can’t have both…).
For basketball fans who fight on for better or worse, for
that spot by the window on the second floor of the library and for the Wister
lab printers and the Wister lab stairs that are the whole of my exercise
regime.
For Explorer Cafes and Diplomat in Residence talks, Olney
hall air conditioning that gives strangers something to commiserate about, for
the shuttle bus tracker and daily mass at one.
For classes with 7 students and 2 professors where I can
speak without fear, for stacks of Collegians and quiet spots in the art museum.
For Improv shows and the Masque formal, health fair snacks and Dr. Lane
Neubauer. For night classes and the Holroyd roof, for those kids who play
guitar on the quad.
For yellow picnic tables. For the N2N closet in UMAS,
shorthand from Brother Ralph, mixed CDs from Calcutta, UNO with Raphael, and
clean up talks at Face to Face.
For 3 am paper writing delirium and dinners with the
Christian Brothers. For the Brothers above all who made this possible, for the
social justice legacy of the original La Salle.
For the flat explorer who’s accompanied me here, and for the
wonderful friends with whom I’ve skyped and written to and missed so very much.
For blue and gold banners at the service trips auction and
for the dance-a-thon and for cannolis in Chestnut Hill while soliciting. For
the trolley car diner and the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, Buddhist monks
touring campus and the TOMS day without shoes. For strange rules surrounding
events on the tennis courts and for soft pretzel sales every two days, trains
to center city and presidential election watch parties in the Dan Rodden.
For wind chimes on the door of the multicultural and
international center, for candles at the 9/11 remembrance vigil. For t-shirts
galore and for RESnet who fixed my Cisco login popup.
Today I’m taking an Adventure in Galway down memory lane,
thinking of the life I’ve left behind, but only temporarily. I’ve recently
found out I’ve been hired as a Day ONE host for this summer, which means
getting the new freshman ready for their time at school, and I hope more than
anything that I can help them to see all the things I love about the place on
the corner of 20th and Olney.
St. John Baptiste de
La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our
hearts, forever.
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