Senior year is looming for us juniors. Thankfully we have one more month of bliss until it really hits home that we only have one more year, two more semesters, or 32 more weeks in this place we call home. It’s hard to imagine a life without Chapel Hill (and I’m trying not to think about it).
1. I’m surrounded by 30,000 of my closest friends. Never again will I be in such a confined area with such a large number of people with similar age, goals and intellect. It’s hard to imagine going out into the world and being surrounded by adults everyday (where sweats aren’t acceptable), and functioning in an environment where you don’t see the majority of your friends on a day-to-day basis. It’s not so easy to meet people at work or at the gym, and they definitely don’t live less than a 10 minute walk from you. Basically, we have it made.
2. Carolina Athletics. Today, I watched a 15 minute long video about Carolina Basketball and was basically in tears by the end. What will it be like to attend a UNC basketball game not sit in the student section? Football? Baseball? All sounds pretty lame to me. You don’t quite realize how much you’ll miss it until you’re sitting in the Dean Dome and you realize you only have one more at-home Duke game and one more season with Roy. Heartbreaking.
3. We’re not ready for the real world. Sure, we’ve spent the entire semester applying to internships. Fortunately for us this application process is slightly less stressful than applying for a real job in the real world. We may think we’re prepared for anything life can throw at us, but I’m just not sure how well I’ll adapt to an 8am-5pm work schedule everyday. We like to complain about how much work we have and how much time we spend in the library but we are secretly thankful we aren’t adults quite yet.
4. It’s beautiful here. There are few sights more glorious than the Old Well in the spring, the bell tower on a clear day or a leaf-covered McCorkle Place. Sometimes you’re walking through the Quad and you just have to stop right in the middle to take it all in. Forget Wake Forest, Elon or (definitely) Duke…we simply have the most beautiful campus around.
5. Chapel Hill is seriously the best. Where else can you get loaded cheese fries at 2am? A He’s Not blue cup? A Merritt’s BLT? Chapel Hill is one of the most unique and magical places you’ll ever encounter. W.T. Carmichael Jr. sums it up best: “Down through all the years of your lives, wherever you may go, your heart will always beat just a bit faster when you hear the symphonic syllables: Chapel Hill.”