Cherishing the Minutes: A Look Back on My Favorite Memories of UVic

by · April 29, 2020

Has it really been five years? When you are in the middle of the ride it feels like forever but now that I am finally looking back on it all it feels like it went by in a flash.

Many people say your university years are some of the best of your life and I have to agree. I am so nostalgic already and with only a week left in my degree I can honestly say I wish I had more time.

I know that must sound crazy but when you take out the stress of exams and due dates and all the uncertainty and look at all the movie nights, eye opening courses, study sessions with friends, and learning opportunities you never knew you could have it really is something special (ok, even the stress is part of the nostalgia sometimes).

A couple of months ago before the quarantine I was sitting in the Gender Studies Reading Room watching my friends from all walks of life talking about everything from cats to politics to art to the annoying assignment due in an hour we were rushing to finish and I suddenly stepped outside of myself for a moment, looked around, and wished I could freeze it.

This moment and so many like it was exactly what I had pictured when I dreamed about university in high school and I was living in it, right in the middle of it, so before it passed I paused, took a moment and took a living picture of it in my mind because I knew in a year, five years, thirty years from now, this is what I would remember. I would remember the anticipation and stress in the room, the ideas and conversation buzzing between us, the beautiful day outside, and the young, inspired friends around me that I may not see again but will always be in this moment with me.

I will remember:

  • my first Anthropology class on my very first day, winning a McDonald’s cheeseburger for answering a question correctly
  • absolutely loving studying for that same class because I had picked it for myself
  • Movie Nights on the quad and my CL knowing my name
  • my first friend from Orientation making dinner for me
  • my Halloween movie week in Ring Road residences
  • late night study sessions in the library that actually made a huge difference in my grades
  • getting my first co-op position after working so hard for it
  • my Study Abroad term in Spain
  • acing a course the professor warned us very few would ace
  • all the Diwali and Dia de Muertos celebrations
  • volunteering and working all over campus and seeing the difference I could make in students’ lives
  • our glow in the dark performance in African Hand Drumming
  • making a best friend and them moving away
  • all the snow days, fall days, spring confetti days, and huge moon nights from my dorms
  • Monday Night 50% off Domino’s pizza!
  • Rocky Horror Picture Show at Cinecenta!
  • getting to hold a Plath family copy of “The Bell Jar” in the library Archives
  • rediscovering my love of reading through a literature course
  • dinner gatherings at Spanish professors’ homes
  • breathing in the crisp, clean air of Victoria while walking through the trees on the quad to my first year courses every day

Each of these moments and all the ones in between have been so special to me and I will take all of them with me into the next phase of my life with no regrets.

I hope you all find these moments to cherish of your own because it all goes by so quickly and before you know it it is a memory.

I hope when it is all a memory it is one you know you made the most of or did your best in and would do it all again, I know I would.

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