On my way back home for winter break, a song came on by Trevor Hall. One of the verses was “Take me to the table where we all dine together,” and it got me thinking about this past semester.

Not going to lie – I teared up right before I took my last final. I can’t believe I just finished my 7th semester of college (what??!!).

It was hard – I took 18 credits, and 3 of those were for Biological Statistics (I passed, a reminder that miracles do in fact happen). I learned a lot – a lot I will forget… but one thing that sticks with me each semester is the value in being at a table where we all dine together (usually eating Chipotle).

I live with 5 other girls in a small house we call Castle. Every Sunday night we set aside time to share about what’s going on in our lives. Maybe we don’t literally dine together each week, but we do spend time together. It’s one of the things I look forward to the most.

Dining together, or just being together, is what made this past semester so memorable… biking on the Huckleberry Trail, playing soccer in the outdoor hockey rink, watching sunsets on swings in a field, driving to Atlanta to see Virginia Tech play Georgia Tech, making bonfires at the River, Friendsgiving, hiking allll around Southwest Virginia, decorating Castle for Christmas… the list goes on.

My dad said the other day, “If you don’t want to leave, then why not just find a job in Blacksburg for another year and stay?”

…

True, I could. And Blacksburg is great, but it’s the people that make it hard to think about leaving.

So – thank you to all the friends I shared these experiences with.

I can’t get enough of dining together – being together. PTL there’s still one more semester!