Dear Yale,
With what can only be described as a fluttering heart, I wave goodbye to you–for now.
This summer, I’ve had to make a difficult decision. My options as a rising senior were three-fold: 1) to enroll and live in New Haven 2) to enroll remotely from the comfort of my own home or 3) to take a gap semester. As all my friends grappled with the same decision, I realized I couldn’t just wait and see what everyone else was doing and go with the flow—I had to make the best decision for me, my personality, my dreams and my circumstances.
When it comes down to it, Yale, I simply haven’t had my complete fill of you yet.
I choose to delay my academic career in hopes of returning to a full life on campus, where I can live out my unfinished theatrical dreams and cross every restaurant within walking distance off my bucket list. I’ve attended way too few college teas and haven’t rubbed shoulders with my fair share of successful Yale alum. I’m greedy, I know–though I’ve experienced plenty of in-person, intimate seminars and life chats with professors over a cup of coffee, I simply want more. Most importantly, I still have an enormous amount of hugs to give before my arms give out.
About half of my friends are returning, and the other half are taking a gap. I’ll get to spend extra time with the underclassmen I so dearly love, but my time with those forging on track to graduation will be cut short by one semester. I enter the fall semester with these mixed feelings of happiness and sadness, along with my trepidation and excitement about the future.
As I start a dream internship with a production company/film distributor and part-time as a tv writer’s assistant, and as my friends gear up for online classes and COVID-19 testing and social distancing hangouts, I know one thing will remain the same: our love for each other, which will keep us all connected. Excuse my sappiness, but it’s true. From Netflix parties to playing Skribbl.io to quiet writing sessions on Zoom, from meme-tagging to late-night calls to the longest Snapchat streaks ever formed, my friends and I have mastered long-distance friendships over these last five months. The upcoming school semester’s got nothing on us.
So, until we meet again Yale, I will be perfecting the art of macarons and honing my hugging skills on my little brother (if he’ll let me). Can’t wait to express my love in physical, tangible ways–but for now, this love letter will have to do.
Sayonara!
Cassandra
