Notre Dame

I got a mailing from ND today about the upcoming Class of '99 reunion. Aside from all the reunion talk making me feel really old, the reunion committee has done its job well and I feel appropriately nostalgic.

I am beyond grateful for my college experience. Our Steubenville neighbors jest about how we made it out with our Catholicism in tact, but the truth is, I learned my faith there. I learned the depth and beauty of the Catholic faith, partly from Lit Choir, partly from classes, partly from friends, mostly from Nathaniel.

Oh right, and that. Of course I'm grateful for my college experience, right? I met my husband there. And dated him the whole time I was there. (The top left had phrase on the reunion material, big and bold, answering the question "why come back to campus?" is "It is where you met and fell in love with your spouse". They know their target market, alright.) Of course that shaped my college experience in a huge way! Heck, I imagine it shaped the experience of all my friends to some degree as well. Would we have gone to THAT MANY glee club concerts if I hadn't been dating Nathaniel?

Okay, maybe.

I didn't know much of anything about Notre Dame when I started applying for colleges. I am not exaggerating when I say that I had only heard of it the year before when two grads from my high school went there, and one of them, when she came home the following summer, told me how much I would love it. I then went on to send my ACT scores to the wrong Notre Dame (a college in... Ohio maybe? who's brochure all but started with the phrase "This is not the Notre Dame you're looking for." I don't think I was the only person ever to make that mistake.) Once I got on the right track, though, and got the correct ND mailings, I fell in love with the University. Their's was the first acceptance letter I got (apart from KU), and I told my mom that same day that I wanted to go there. She suggested I at least wait and see whether I got into any of the other schools I'd applied to. So I did, and I prayed, and I knew that Our Lady was calling me.

I loved everything about college. I loved my dorm; I lived there all four years. I had a great roommate from the start, and we lived together for three years, then next to each other in singles the fourth. I made amazing friends, both in my dorm and out. I studied abroad in London, and even though it meant a year of long distance relationship, it was so, so awesome! I loved the classes I took. I loved the cheeseball dorm dances and the crazy campus activities. I loved South Dining Hall and the student center, which, at the time, had almost nothing in it but lounge space and a convenience store. We had The. Best. Time.

I'm always glad, looking back, that I shared those years with Nathaniel. It gives us a huge foundation of life together before we were married. We can reminisce about that first Easter, when campus was mostly deserted, but he stayed to attend all the services that Lit Choir was singing, and on Easter Sunday night into Easter Monday we stayed up till dawn in the 24 hour lounge of my dorm, discussing our hopes and dreams and fears (and Jaime, the security guard kept checking in on us). Almost all of my memories of our courtship are on that campus.

We'd love to take our kids there for a visit. We talk about it often lately. "Where could we plan an inexpensive roadtrip that would allow us to tack on a day visit to campus? Who could we visit along the way?" It helps that Peter is obsessed with the IRISH. Everything sports related is "Go IRISH!" (although it's frequently followed by "I'm a Husker!" which still throws me for a loop).

We don't have any plans to attend the reunion. I don't think it's feasible for us at the time of year it's held, and the logistics of it make me tired just thinking about it! I suppose if we could leave our kids behind... but I really do want to take THEM there. I want to walk around the lakes with them and eat in the dining hall with them. I miss my friends, and I would love to reconnect with them all and introduce my kids to them. (Hi, guys!) I look forward to seeing their pictures, and I'll be envious the whole time. But it's not in the cards for us. Maybe in five years, or ten...

In the meantime, I hold so much gratitude in my heart for my alma mater, for everything I found there and learned there and for the person she helped make me. It's fun to be reminded by the reunion mailer of how much good came from those four years. I can't even begin to imagine how different my life would be if I'd gone somewhere else.

And our hearts forever
Love thee Notre Dame!