letters.

yesterday was the last day of school. i have zero complaints about that. yesterday was also the last day i had 28 precious girls living on my unit. they left, one by one. we've been together for 8 months, and it's hard for me to even picture in my head what is was like when each one moved in. but at the same time, i feel like they just moved in yesterday. 

at our first unit meeting, i asked them to each write a letter to themselves. i collected each letter and then gave them back to them when they checked out of their rooms yesterday. this was something that i had done my freshman year, so i wanted to pass it along to them. i never actually got my letter back (no i'm not bitter at all!) but i knew there would be something special for them about looking back on their first day of freshman year. 

i wanted to read them each so badly, but i resisted the temptation. when i was getting ready to give them back, i had to open them to find out who's letter was whose, so i did end up seeing a few words. most along the lines of, "you did it!" "be yourself!" "good job, you made it!" i was so overwhelming proud of each one of them. each one had her own battle to fight this semester, each one had struggles and successes, but each one made it through to the end. 

i started tearing up a little bit when i was checking some girls out of their room yesterday. it's such a strange feeling to watch over 26 freshman and then to let them go after 8 months. i will miss them. i think the tears were also a little bit from being reminded of this time my freshman year. i cried a lot of tears those last few days as i watched my best friend graduate, knowing she wouldn't be here the next year. and i was nervous about going to alaska for the summer, not really knowing what to expect. but, just like my sweet girls, i made it.

i always felt like i got the best group of girls. all of them were so sweet and adorable and precious. they bonded so quickly, something i'm thankful for. we, of course, had our issues, but i couldn't have asked for a better group of girls. 

i'll be packing up my room in a few days and closing the book on this year. i'm apparently going to be a senior next year. but first, i cannot wait to be in my house making smoothies all day long. oh summer, 4 months of you does sound good.

ko.