Goodbye Santa Fe

After returning home last week, Josephine Barrale and Casey Kimball, assistant teachers and close friends on the semester in the Southwest, summed up the group’s final days in New Mexico.
“We can’t believe how fast the semester went by and it seemed like everyone fit in perfectly as a group; a family. Seeing them all leave each other was the hardest part,” Barrale said.
With final projects, presentations, packing, and group dinners jamming their last days, goodbyes seemed to come in the blink of an eye.
The group’s last week in the American Southwest was a chaotic blur. Students rushed to complete a final presentation for Anthropology in the Environment, a final art project for ceramics and final assignments for other classes.
“It was a stressful week. The days flew by. We were so busy,” said sophomore Charlotte Malaroche.
As the last days approached, students came together to have one last “family” dinner; a Thanksgiving feast.
“It was such a nice way to end the semester, good food, music and friends! It was a lot of fun,” said junior Emily Haley.
The dinner was held at Professor Liza Myers family home in New Mexico, and group members said it felt like they were all at home.
Nov. 13 was the official day our semester ended, the official day people said their goodbyes. Although students knew they would see each other in just a few weeks, saying goodbye was still hard.
“We created a family, and it is never easy saying goodbye to people who you love so much,” said senior Sarah Guth.
Even Professor Paul Derby and Myers made a heart-felt motion to say goodbye to each student with a big hug.
“I usually don’t have a hard time saying goodbye. I believe goodbyes are just temporary, and I know I will see all of my new friends again real soon,” said Benj Spound, a student at Johnson State College and participant in the American Southwest. “The semester was full of unbelievable experiences and memories. I could not have asked for a better semester, hands down.”
By the sounds of it, neither could anyone else.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous post SGA tackles IT, growth, smoking and civility
Next post Sports Talk