By Heather Monahan
Associate Editor
If you had told me in my freshman year that I wouldn’t meet my lifelong college friends until I was a senior, I probably would’ve laughed in your face and rolled my eyes. But here I sit, a little over two weeks before graduation — a day I’ve dreamed about for three and a half years — not ready to leave my handful of best friends.
Don’t get me wrong — I made great friends during my first three years at Bonaventure, and I love every one of them and value my friendships with all of them. I sincerely hope I’ll be able to keep in touch with them after graduation and maybe run into them somewhere down the road so we can laugh about the stupid things we did on the weekends, like ditching the bus in favor of walking back to campus from the bars after spending far too much money on overpriced drinks at The Burton.
But the friends I found this year — as corny and cliché as it may sound — they’re my family. With them, it’s not a question of whether or not I’ll see them after graduation or keep in touch. I just know I will. They’re the ones I’ll call when I (hopefully) get hired in the near future, the ones I’ll want at my wedding whenever that may be and the ones who I know will have my back no matter what.
As is the case with most college students, I found most of my closest friends through the various clubs and organizations I’ve been involved with. Working for The Bona Venture has allowed me to find my best friends Emma Zaremba, Kevin Rogers, Harrison Leone and Taylor Nigrelli.
At this time last year, I didn’t know my best friend Emma. But working together as features editors in the fall created a strong bond between us and a friendship I know I’m going to cherish for the rest of my life. Throughout the stress of senior year, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through without her reminders that food was still a necessity, no matter how soon senior capstone was due.
Without Kevin, not only would I have no one to obsess over “Game of Thrones” or “House of Cards” with, but I don’t know who I would recruit to dress as Bilbo Baggins to answer the door for the Mangia’s delivery guy. Wherever life takes us after we cross the stage in two weeks, I know I can count on staying in touch with Kevin, be it through texts about the aforementioned shows or Snapchat masterpieces.
Much like Fred and George Weasley are always mentioned together in Harry Potter, I’m going to mention Harrison and Taylor together. I don’t know what I’m going to do without having my very own Weasley twins in my life on a daily basis. Whenever things got too stressful, I could always count on these two for ridiculous one-liners that would leave me with a stomachache from laughing so hard.
I’ve spent nearly four years wanting to leave the Bona Bubble, but here I sit about two weeks before my journey is over and I want nothing more than added time. I’m excited for the opportunities that are ahead of me, but I’m incredibly sad that I’m going to be leaving the home — and the family — I’ve found at St. Bonaventure.
