A
on mv mind
Illustration by Greg Griesenauer
I haven't been sleeping well lately.
My mind wanders at night, contemplating my senior year in college. Last semester, I studied abroad in Paderno del Grappa, Italy. After four crazy months of traveling, eating pasta by the wheelbarrow-full, drinking wine by the
gallon and meeting amazing people, I was really ready to be back in Lawrence.
Among others, my roommate (in Italy and in Lawrence) Jake would constantly ask what the hell was the matter with me. How could I be missing Kansas as I'm lying on the beaches of Nice or drinking wine under the Eiffel Tower? Why did I miss KU so much?
I've never really been able to articulate an answer. Until now.
Brian Wacker, senior Jayplay writer
You see, Jake, I wanted to be back here because it's what I know. It's home.
I wanted to wake up at nine on a Saturday morning, pick up a case of Bud Light, tailgate at the stadium for hours, play catch with some friends and wander into the football game halfway
through the first quarter.
I wanted to camp out for five days in the lobby of Allen Fieldhouse with a blow-up mattress, a pile of homework and a can of Pringles just to get the best seats for an exhibition game against the EA All-Stars.
I wanted to walk up the Hill from my parking spot each morning and still get that nostalgic feeling as I passed the Campanile.
I wanted to tune into KJHK, listen for an hour and not be able to recognize one single song.
I wanted to walk to class 20 minutes early, sit out on Wescoe Beach on a perfect fall day, run into three different people I haven't seen in three months, say "we should hang out this weekend," swap phone numbers and then not see or
talk to them for another three months.
I wanted to meet my girlfriend on campus for 20-minute dates between our classes just for hell of it.
I had nothing against being in Europe. Believe me, it was an incredible semester. For four months, I lived outside of anything I'd ever known and loved
it. But it had to end and now I'm back living the life I know and I love it even more.
So many times, I hear about how going to college is just the springboard into the journey that is life. It's only the training ground. But am I crazy to think that maybe that journey is already in full-swing? College is so much more than trying to build a better life for yourself down the road. It's about having the best life for yourself now. It scares me that I'm a senior now and I'm just starting to fully appreciate this.
So for now, I'm here to walk through the student ghetto on a Friday night, find a random house party, steal a cup and drink off the keg for free all night.
I'm here to crawl down Mass St. on any given night with five different friends through five different bars and not remember where I went with whom the next morning.
I'm here to know that my going to either the Hawk or Liquid on a Friday night instantly raises the average age of everyone there by two years; and I'm only 21.
I'm here to find that perfectly-positioned spot in Budig 120 where the professor can't see me and pull out my perfectly-folded crossword during Biology
I'm here to pass Western Civ I and II without ever reading one required book.
class.
I'm here to skip out of class early on Friday afternoon and make a bee-line for the Crossing.
I'm here to take every flier handed to me on campus and directly deposit it into the nearest trash can without reading it.
I'm here to spend more time finding a parking spot near the library than I do actually studying there.
I'm here to walk into the Underground at 12:20 p.m. and feel absolutely violated just trying to get some breadsticks. I'm here to know that the only people who care about how Delta Force and KUnited do in student elections are the people actually in Delta Force and KUnited.
I'm here to think Wescoe Hall is the most beautiful building on campus.
The Venetian canals and German beergartens will be there for me if I decide to go back to Europe in ten years. But if I come back to Lawrence then, will any of this stuff be the same for me?
That's why I missed Lawrence so much, Jake.
Oh, and Pokey Stix.
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