Thank you, Boston University from a Class of 2020 Parent

By Marie Calvo Monge, Parent of Noelle, CAS’2020, Member of the Parent & Family Advisory Board

In September of 2016, we dropped our daughter off to start her college journey at Boston University. I vividly remember the night we bid farewell to her at Warren Towers. My husband and I tearfully embraced her before we took the sad slow walk back to our hotel. It was the hardest thing we had ever experienced. She tried to maintain composure awkwardly joining her new friends on their way to a social gathering. The previous few days were magical and gave us the reassurance that she was in the right place. With my parents, brother, father-in-law and sister-in-law joining the festivities, we attended a Parent Pit Stop and shared a beer with fellow parents and faculty at the BU Pub, explored the beautiful city of Boston in all its early fall glory. We delighted in immense pride as the Class of 2020 marched up Commonwealth Avenue to Agganis Arena for the Matriculation Ceremony. I will never forget the feeling of seeing our daughter in the sea of thousands of freshmen and seeing the Guam flag image on the Jumbo Tron above as they announced all the countries and states being represented by the incoming class. BU created this sense of grandeur with such an unforgettable ceremonious occasion. Though I had lived in Boston during my college years and my husband is a New England native, this experience in Boston was like no other. What’s more, the administration, faculty and families at the University were so personable. My husband made fast friends with Dean Elmore and Dean Deluca. My expectations were certainly exceeded as I didn’t expect a university this size to really provide such a nurturing sense of family.

Over the next four years, we witnessed something special as our daughter bloomed through her BU experience. Through the “Core Floor” in her freshman dorm, she formed a special bond with a group of friends. “You found your people,” I often tell her! Her advisors, professors and supervisors at her campus job enlightened her not only intellectually but in sharing their life experiences with her. She traveled to Sydney for a summer program and London for a semester abroad – both places on her bucket list. She joined clubs she was passionate about, had her writing published in the Daily Free Press, Her Campus, and Concrete Playground, started a podcast with one of her best friends and even worked behind the scenes on productions produced by and starring her talented friends. Her college experience culminated in one last Spring Break where she and her friends opted to stay in New England to take a road trip of sorts to all the quirky and interesting towns around the area. A very special time among friends as the threat of Covid-19 loomed.

We eagerly anticipated Commencement in May, when our experience as Boston University parents would also come full circle. Where we’d reunite with the familiar faces of the administration we’ve come to know over the years, partake in all the festivities, and proudly welcome family and friends who traveled to be there to cheer our daughter on. The announcements were printed, travel and hotel accommodations booked, and the countdown was on. Our disbelief was in high gear as we watched the news, and learned of potential alternatives for the remainder of the school year. “There’s no way.” “This has never happened.” “This CAN’T BE happening.” But it has. And in the context of the enormity of this situation, Commencement for the Class of 2020 is just one speck of the mountain of issues that will change all of our lives for a long time to come.

We are collectively feeling loss right now. The lesson we can take from all this is to embrace the good moments when they come, when they are before you, when you are experiencing it. Take it all in and do not take it for granted. In this crazy time, you never know what could happen and when all you’ll have are your memories.

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! Our hopes are that we’ll someday soon have the opportunity to make more wonderful memories on campus and to truly bring this experience full circle!

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” – Winnie the Pooh