Reflecting on my time at USD

Honestly, I have no idea how I am a senior already. As cliche as it is, I feel like I just moved to San Diego as a freshman, trying to make sense of this new place and environment. Although four years have passed, I’m still trying to make sense of it all.

Sure, I’ve finally figured out the differences between all of the acronyms we are so fond of using here at the University of San Diego, but the sense of uncertainty still lingers. Now, instead of having to get used to a new environment and community, I have to wrap my head around the fact that in three short weeks, I have to leave this place I’ve learned to call home. It’s a strange feeling when you realize just how much you’ve come to love USD. I started to figure it out when I began referring to San Diego and the life I’ve made here as home—much to my parents’ dismay I might add. While I love the city, it’s not San Diego that generates this feeling; it’s USD.

It’s true that many of us lack school spirit, but just because we’re all not running around in blue all day every day doesn’t mean that we aren’t proud to be Toreros. It’s quite obvious that it’s not Diego that brings us all together, it’s the sense of community.

My USD community has many overlapping parts: the students in my communication classes, the women in my sorority, the friends I met abroad, The USD Vista staff, my roommates, and all the random friends and acquaintances I’ve met along the way. No one’s community looks quite like mine, and that’s okay because we all have our own communities under the flourishing umbrella of the USD community.

It is the community, not the classes, events, or the beautiful campus, that I am going to remember when I look back on my time at USD. It is this community that makes the prospect of graduating so scary. Trust me, I’m ready to be done with homework and tests, but I would take my finals a million times over if it meant that I could stay for just a little bit longer with these people.

Knowing that I spent the past four years building up this network of classmates, professors, and friends is frightening. Come May 28, I have to say goodbye to all of them possibly forever. USD has prepared me for a lot of things, but saying goodbye is not one of them. Yes, I can come visit, I can go to reunions and join an alumni chapter, and all that good stuff, but I am going to miss being in college more than I ever thought was possible. Even though a new and exciting chapter of my life is opening, I can’t seem to focus on anything but my time here at USD coming to a close.

As the countdown to graduation ticks down, and post graduation crossroads loom in the not-so-distant future, there are a lot of things I am unsure about. But there is one thing I know for certain: USD was the best decision I could have ever made. So thank you, USD. I love you.

By Dani DeVries