As each and every one of us has returned to the place we call home, the land of the beautiful Carolina blue skies and the Carolina girls, we fall in love with it all over again. Each step we take along these brick paths adds yet another memory to our already immense collection. Each friend you see again and each new face you meet signifies yet another magical moment in your memory bank. Every time you step out on the quad and you're washed with the bright sunshine of another incredible day, know that you have been given a priceless gift.
Words never really have been able to describe the love that I feel for this place. Every time I tell someone that I am a proud Tar Heel, they always ask one question. "Oh that's great, do you like it there?" Do I like it here? Van Gogh "liked" painting, Beethoven "liked" music, and Jordan "liked" basketball. Ali probably "liked" boxing and Oprah "likes" helping underprivileged people, but my emotions for this university could never be described in the simple terms of "like."
No, my response is usually that I love it here. But as I've begun yet another chapter in my life as a Tar Heel I have realized that even that phrase is underselling my feelings about this place. I feel stronger about my ties to this priceless gem. The Southern piece of heaven resides in everything I do. It courses through my veins and it is in every breath I breathe. When I leave I instantly anticipate coming back. Every time I set foot on this campus it feels like the first time all over again. There are hundreds of moments throughout the year where I look around and pinch myself just to make sure I'm not dreaming. It's almost too perfect to be true.
Alas, I feel my time here running out. I feel it every single day. I cringe with the thought of having to leave for good and venture out in to the real world of nine to five jobs. As a freshman, four years seemed like an eternity. Now as a junior I'm afraid to blink and miss it. I find peace in the fact that even though one day I will have to leave this place, I'll never actually be leaving it behind.
