If you hear cackling on the “million-dollar stairs” every Thursday at 1:15 p.m, I apologize for the inconvenience my friends and I may be causing. In a rare occurrence, all our schedules have aligned, affording us the opportunity to all walk to class hand in hand. These walks are quite hilarious—for us, anyway. My friends tend to say the most outrageous things at the most inappropriate times, and this walk is no exception.
Fortunately for the innocent pedestrians stuck behind us, we only have three of these walks left until we graduate.
As an emotional second-semester senior, this realization hit me hard—I’m thrilled to be receiving my diploma, but the impending separation from my closest friends casts a shadow over the achievement. Even though FaceTime and texting make long-distance relationships and friendships possible, I find myself in shambles at the thought of never again half-windedly stumbling up these stairs. My intense emotional reaction is mainly because I will never again be able to walk through campus and have an “encounter” with my best friends.
An “encounter” is a term that my friends and I use regularly. It does not just refer to seeing someone you know, but seeing someone with whom you have a history—a story, big or small. The “encounter”instantly brings those memories to the forefront of your mind. Unfortunately, when we leave college, we also leave our “encounters” behind.
Without actively spotting these human time capsules, I fear the memories associated with them will fade into oblivion. To our friend group, this fact carries much more significance than one might think. These “encounters” bond us. Their sightings prompt us into immediate conversation in person or in our group chats. Without these instant conversation starters, many of our group chats might gradually have become dormant. The people we text every day may become the people we text once a week, then once a month, and eventually, once a year.
The connections we share with people are fickle, determined entirely by how often we interact with them. “Encounters” strengthen these connections by sparking spontaneous conversation. Without them, you lose a pillar of connection that is already on unsteady footing as you move hundreds of miles away from your current roommate.
In the time before graduation, cherish the “encounters” you have left. Relive your favorite memories while you still remember them. I can almost guarantee you that the most interaction you have with these people post-graduation is a connection request on LinkedIn. At least you can share a screenshot in the group chat.
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