I wrote this during move out on Saturday, but I am just now getting an opportunity to post it. It has been a great year! God is good!
It is all kind of bitter sweet really. All the gates are open, and the faces are actually familiar now. I see them walk down the courtyard and I actually know who they are, I know their struggles, their ambitions, a lot of them I know exactly what makes them tick. We have been through break ups, divorces of parents, suicide attempts, boys sneaking in rooms, alcohol and drug scares, thunder storms and tornado warnings. We have experienced engagements, birthdays, marriages, 4.0s, A's, bid night and Sing Song. They have seen me at my best and worst, and I have had the opportunity to see them in the same.
My first year as a Residence Director has gone so quickly. I am still in awe that we are already at the end of the year. I couldn't have asked for a better set of students to work with, or employees to manage and grow with, after all, I believe I grew as much as they did this year.
I am torn between the excitement of the summer and the next phase in life and the knowledge that my time, with this particular group of students has come to a close. The Hall is almost empty now, just 15 rooms left to checkout. A few are getting married this summer. Some will be transferring to other schools in the fall. I cherish the time that I have had with them. I fight the need to say all the things that I should have said. I look at the experiences of the year and consider all the goals I had and all the moments that things just didn't happen the way I thought they would. I remember all the programs I had thought I would do with the hall and grieve that they didn't happen. It is funny how great the dreams were and when reality happened and the pace of the semester happened, well, they just didn't get done.
BUT...
What did happen this year is amazing. See, I had the opportunity to enter the lives of 87 young women. I didn't get to know each of them intimately. Some I did. Some will call me when they get engaged and when they start their families. Some will email me for a few months and then disappear. But we had a moment. We had an opportunity to be real. We had conversations that I would not exchange for anything. They taught me how to do ministry. They taught me how to laugh. They taught me how to be real, with them and with myself. They taught me that it is OK for my apartment to not always be in order, because life isn't always in order.
They Blessed my life.
Thank you Ladies of Morris Hall 2006-07, I love and appreciate every one of you.
