To my university friends

I was looking through some pictures from my university days and I was totally entrenched in nostalgia. Looking back at those years, it all seemed so fun – sitting in lectures with friends, joining clubs together, partying… even the cramming for tests have all become good memories for me.

Someone once told me, “I wish somebody told me those were the good old days” and this is kind of how I feel about these memories of mine.

Maybe I am old now and this is what old people do – talk about their past and their “glory days” – but I really do want to delve into this emotion more because I think it is a beautiful thing.

When I was actually in university, I never thought to myself that these are my golden years. I never thought I should appreciate this time more. I just lived it.

Like many other people, I simply studied and hung out with friends. I wondered what I really wanted to do with my life. I freaked out over final exams and pushed myself to write bullshit essays and complete projects with team members who didn’t do their part. I made new friends and lost some. Not everything was fun and great, but being constantly surrounded by peers who are learning and trying new things is just a wonderful environment to be in.

Now I wonder what all my university friends are up to. I know we all have jobs and we’re moving out and we are busy living our lives. We don’t get to see each other on a daily or weekly basis anymore. We don’t randomly bump into each other in the student commons or lunch areas. We don’t transit together or go to the same events anymore.

We don’t get to shit on that bad professor or gush over the good-looking TA. We don’t get to practice for case competitions or stress about assignments together. We don’t go on snowboarding or camping trips anymore or huddle together at awkward networking events. We don’t get to do all the things we used to do together and even though that is ok and we can still all meet up, we simply just don’t.

I am happy with my life and where I am right now. I am not trying to say I wish my life is the the same as it was back when I was in university, but I can’t deny that a part of me does miss it a little simply because that is not my life anymore.

When I think back on all the friends I’ve made in my life and how we’ve grown apart, I realize this may be one of those kind of sad/adulting things. You do grow apart with some friends because you don’t see them every day. It just happens like that but it doesn’t mean you’re no longer friends. It doesn’t mean the times you’ve spent together and the moments you’ve had together mean nothing now. And instead of beating myself up or blaming the other person about this, I find that I am just more grateful for the friends I still see on a regular basis. If a friend whom I don’t see very often reaches out, it becomes a pleasant surprise.

To all my university friends, I want to tell you that the years we spent together trying to figure out ourselves and our careers is a beautiful montage in my mind. Thank you for making even the not-so-fun parts of university a good memory. Please know that I think about you all from time to time.

Thank you for being my friend.

Sincerely, Loewe