Friday, July 24, 2015

A Bittersweet Goodbye

A Bright Future Ahead
Whenever you've been a place for a long enough time, you're bound to be emotionally connected with the people, places, and things you've encountered there. I am currently experiencing this painful yet sweet memory rush throughout my brain right now. The people I met on my floor, class, quad; I will miss them all. The places I went exploring; I will miss the great scenery. The things I've accumulated here: kindred classmates who's willing to share their uncensored views, insight on the society in which we live in, and the very much loved atmosphere in the class created by everyone across the globe.

This morning I woke up with a sever stomache cramp and I couldn't get off the bed. I had to take some medicine in order to help alleviate the pain and eventually it went away. By the time I was able to move my legs, I had already missed the morning session. I missed the crying within the classroom, courtyard, the grassland, and in front of each other. But, I had the opportunity to make it all up in the afternoon session. Joanne and Elexis came knocking on my door after they got out of class to get me to the LOVE statue and watch our classes' protest on the racist sign we saw at South Philly (refer back to the earlier posts, I posted the picture and description about the sign). It was truly a phenomenal speech and advocacy for human rights for all people. Social justice has been so deeply ingrained into my heart that I'm now experiencing criticism for being too critical on things. I personally think that's a good change for me though. 
The Ending of Inspirational Speakers, The Beginning of Student Advocates
After lunch we went back to McNeil for the last time and got to hear such an inspirational team to perform for us, the Mahina Movement. They are truly inspirational as they incorporate their own struggles into their songs and voices the power of females across the globe. Over the course of three weeks, the words social justice completely changed its meaning. The Jun three weeks ago thought of it as equality for females. Now, when I hear the words social justice I think of unite, one, forever, longlasting, equity, everyone, everyday, every minute. 

We watched Antman after class to help our moody emotions and it was a temporary pill. The minute we walked to the bookstore to buy our Penn hoodies, that's when it really kicked in. We're really leaving. We're going to have to say goodbye to this place in less than 24 hours. During the dinner at the White Dog Cafe with my cohort and Mr. Hillyer, there were just so many things running in my head and there just wasn't enough RAM to process both the things happening internally and externally. It's just been such a short day yet all my memories felt like months ago. This all felt like a dream but I guess if there's a beginning, following it would be an end.
I'm gonna miss this goofy smile of Elexis'

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Good stuff. Now we'll see what you do with your newfound awareness.

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