One of
my favorite things about college was the opportunity to explore and get to know
a new city. The idea of calling a whole new place my home was pretty damn
exciting (and maybe just a little bit scary). For my first 18 years of life,
exploring my home was never really an independent activity. But as I set foot
on the UW-Madison campus, I knew for the first time I was about to take on a
city and make memories that were completely my own. Those four years of
exploration went by incredibly fast, they literally felt like 20 minutes. From
wide-eyed campus freshman to teary eyed graduating senior… it all felt like a
blur.
The
week following graduation I recall going on a very nostalgic walk all over
campus. As I walked, I was amazed at how truly overwhelmed I felt. Somehow in
that blur of 20 minutes/four years, every square inch of that campus made
emotions and memories flood into me. Campus buildings where my favorite classes
were, libraries where I spent (what felt like) my entire life studying in, restaurants
I ate in far too often, coffee shops I worked at, bars where I spent many a fun
weekend in, and the different apartments I lived in all brought me a variety of
emotions.
That walk was just one long, drawn out goodbye to college. It was like I
had to see every important spot one last time. And following that walk,
the next few days would be packed with goodbyes to the people that filled those
places and shared those memories with me. With every goodbye, to both a special
spot on campus or a wonderful person I met there, I was hopeful I would see it or them again. It was more of a "see you later" than a goodbye. But still, I knew that a chapter of my life was coming to an end.
I had to say goodbye to Madison.
I had to say goodbye to Madison.
So on to the next chapter. A couple months later I
moved into a new place on the north side of Chicago. And while I grew up in the
Chicago suburbs, the north side really feels like an entire new place to
explore. I am absolutely ready to make new memories here. It is an exciting
feeling to be on the brink of making those memories. Which coffee shop will be
the one I always remember going to, what will be the restaurant I have to go
to, what will be my favorite path to walk along, who will I meet along the way? But there is one question that
looms over me above the rest… Will the connections be as strong as they were at
my alma mater? Those spots on the Madison campus seem almost sacred to me now.
Even just nine months out of college and I feel like those four years of
memories are going to be difficult to top.
But as
that question lingers in my mind, it brings me to the realization that I’m just
going to have to work a little harder. I will have to explore a little deeper
and find ways to make these coming years just as great. And who knows how many
years I’ll be in Chicago, but regardless I want to make the most of every day,
every week of this place. I need to act like a college freshman during her first
days on campus.
We all become great explorers
during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair. 
This quote made me think that our first few days, or months in a new city
themselves can be a love affair. I’ve definitely had a love affair with
Madison. Ask anyone I work or live with in Chicago, it’s all I talk about. It probably gets annoying, I mean I'm even writing a blog to discuss my struggle to transition away from
Madison. Needless to say I think it’s about time for me to move on... just a
little bit. I need to become an explorer of Chicago and have a love affair with
a new city. It may not be a college campus, but there is something magnificent
about the city of Chicago. And I am very ready to discover it.
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