In a little over a week, students will say goodbye to their dorms, the Hickey, the De La Roche fish, Bonaventure weekends and their college friends.
As the last full week of classes comes to an end, students have been working vigorously to complete final assignments and study so they can enjoy Spring Weekend. Students say this is a time of reflection on the school year.
Cassina Carter, a freshman accounting major, did not expect to have a different mindset after just two semesters of college.
“Coming into freshman year, I knew I would want to go home very often,” Carter said. “I did not expect going home and counting down the days until I returned, though,” Carter said.
Now that it’s the end of the school year, Carter said she has a completely different idea of home.
“I feel anxious [to go home]. I just don’t feel like home is really home anymore. It’s more like a vacation stop for an extended period of time over the summer,” Carter said.
This uncertainty of returning home after nearly seven months on a college campus may be attributed to the Bona Bubble—a term coined by the Bonaventure community to describe the close relationships that are formed here.
For most students, college is their first experience living away from their parents. Without parents around, students said they must formulate their own rules—and sometimes even those are broken.
“My favorite part of my first year of college was breaking the number-one rule I set for myself: Don’t get into a relationship. It started in the most unexpected way and went completely downhill. But then it suddenly picked back up and hasn’t ended.” Carter said.
Abbie Koetting, a freshman elementary education major, also said her first year of college turned out different than she expected.
“Everyone always told me that I would be super busy, which is true, but not in the way that I originally thought. Not only am I busy academically, but I am busy with social events and extra-curricular activities as well,” Koetting said.
Koetting has been focused on cramming and finishing her academic work so that she can have fun before finals,” she said.
“My number one goal is to do well on my finals. It’s a stressful time, so I need to focus on my schoolwork and make sure that all of my assignments are finished. I want to have fun and enjoy my last few weeks here. I want to be with my friends, have fun on the weekends and enjoy Spring Weekend.”
Some students say they have a bittersweet feeling about returning home, and Koetting can attest to that.
“I don’t know how I am going to last three whole months without my friends here. In just one year, I know I have made some of the strongest friendships here at Bonaventure,” Koetting said.
kolbee14@bonaventure.edu
