Today is the Best Day

“It’s not over yet.” “Enjoy the moment.” “We’ll be here for a little while longer.” “Keep up with the program.”

That’s how everyone operated today. From the regular morning breakfast to the late night College Town tours, we pushed the thoughts of our ending journey to the back of our heads. Today was going to be the most fun filled day ever.

An empty classroom...

The day started the second I left my room. Elana greeted Katie and I at the stairway, updating us about schedule later in the day. We had a lot planned up ahead. After breakfast, I met my groupmates in the lecture hall. We had our last lecture today, but instead of introducing a new hotel aspect to be quizzed on, Reneta and Mark gave us a valuable lesson on success. It’s difficult to think that this will be our last time in the classroom with Reneta and Mark. In high school, we see our teachers for four quarters, totaling to about 175 school days. In these three weeks, I’ve developed a similar feeling. They were more than just our teachers; they were our teammates. They pushed us to do what seemed impossible, yet they were there to catch us if we fell.

Afterwards, we went back into the bin lab to finish our final report. Unfortunately, Madison and Drew had to leave early because their flight was sometime in the noon. We worked like we had a hundred more pages to format together and joke around with, but the clock showed no mercy. Drew was the first to go, followed by Madison. We hugged and said our final goodbyes. We watched them head out the door, capturing the moment they stepped out the door and waved one last time before moving on. It was clear that this would probably be the last time I would see Madison Soffer and Drew Noorani.

Sarah and I turned in our report proudly and left the lab. The deed is done. The three weeks are

Signatures from students.

behind us now. The two of us went back to the lecture room one last time to reminisce about the class and read the comments left on the board.

I couldn’t sit and mope forever; I had a busy day ahead of me. The time between the end of class and dinner was filled with eating, shopping, cleaning, and packing. As I removed the items from my drawer, I’m reminded of the day I loaded the drawers to start my three week adventure. I could remember deciding which drawer should hold pants verses shirts. It felt like so long ago. As I made my way down the hall to retrieve the vacuum cleaner, I noticed a door down the hall left ajar. The sight made my heart fall. The room was cleaned out, vacuumed and stripped of everything. Where Annie used to live was just a hollow room. The colorful assortment of bath items on the shelf and the warm bedding decorating the mattress were now simple barren pieces of furniture.

After completing some of my packing, Elana, Daniella, Tara and I began our busy schedule. The goal was to spend the most time together since this would be the last night. We ate dinner, got bubble tea, and watched the talent show together. Afterwards, I followed Natalie into College Town once more and ended the night by chatting in the lounge on the third floor of Balch.

Today isn’t the end. Today we add pictures to our computers. Today we share the funny jokes and pictures found online. Today we make memories.