When I walked through Loyola’s front doors in August of 2016, I walked in a scared, frightened, awkward, albeit tall, freshman. Four years later, 1100 Laramie is a home. It is not without its flaws and problems, but it is a home nonetheless.

I am not like most of my peers, who see the college process as a long, arduous, and painful reminder that their days in Maroon and Gold are numbered. I however, am looking forward to choosing where it is I’ll be spending the next four years. I consider this phase in life to be one of life’s few “free-agency” phases, where I have control over where I put my roots down for the near future.

We still have a good eight months until graduation, but many of us in the Class of 2020 are starting to accept that life beyond Loyola is approaching us faster than many of us would like to admit.

”Please don’t remind me!” says fellow senior Emilio Leone whenever I talk to him about college, or leaving Loyola. “I will literally cry when the band has their senior dinner,” he says.

Emilio’s views aren’t unlike many of our peers. Only a handful of us seem excited for college. “This is home, this is where I’ve made friends, done activities, had laughs. I’ve had days where I’d get home late a night, go to sleep, only to come back early the next morning. This quite literally, is my home,” says another fellow senior Maggie Brennan.

The thought of leaving home might sound scary, but I urge seniors not to think of it that way. You’re building a new home, from the ground up.

I think back to 2016, where we had every class every day, and ate mayonnaise-infused caf cookies to our heart’s content. Back then, you probably hadn’t met some of your closest friends yet. You didn’t know their names, what they looked like, where they were from, or anything about them at all. But you made it, and built a home here at 1100 Laramie.

College is a new, challenging, and unique experience that is just waiting for us in the Class of 2020 to dive into. Loyola has prepared you well… it’s up to us to make the most of it