Staring out the window at Kerkhoff Coffee Shop, UCLA, 06/08/10
5 years ago, I came to the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA as a “fieldtrip” for the honors program at LBCC that I was in. I had never ever EVER considered coming to UCLA before this day (not to visit and not as a student), but I left convinced by my classmates that there was nothing to lose in applying to finish undergrad here.
This weekend, I am graduating from UCLA with my Masters in Education.
Words cannot express how overwhelmed I am that this is actually happening.
For my entire first year here, I walked around daily in awe of my surroundings… awe that I was allowed to study here, walk these halls, study under these professors, and call these hills my home. I was super insecure of my intelligence, questioning my right to be here almost daily. Whenever I walked around by myself, I was constantly just thinking both “why me?” and “thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus. thank you.”
I think I’m crazy that I needed to have an entire afternoon/evening here, but having taken off-campus classes this entire year, I really felt the need to get my favorite coffee, eat my favorite salad, walk through old halls, and just spend some time thinking.
Is the intensity of what I feel for this campus and this neighborhood different from what most others experience? Maybe. Coming here is the best decision I have ever made, and while that is partly for academic reasons, it extends some where more personal than that.
Some of my favorite memories are from here, along with some of my worst. My proudest moments and most shameful. Some of my closest friends… there is just no other place in this world that hold as many memories and as much of my heart as here. I actually grew up and became an adult at some point during these past 4 years.
I’m going to take my final walk through my favorite parts of campus in a few minutes. I know I’ll be back on Saturday for my graduation, which will be great in it’s own way… but I need some time to myself to just walk through.
Goodbye, UCLA.
Thank you, Jesus.
