Hard to Say Goodbye

Time starts counting down. It will be my last week in UCONN after this weekend.I can’t figure out how many times it has been when I stepped on the fallen leaves of those maple trees, heading towards the classroom with the cute squirrels staring alertly at me on the branch. I don’t know how many times it has been when I stood by the window of analytical laboratory waiting for the readout of a spectrometer, looking at the Swan Lake beside the chemistry building and appreciating the beautiful sunshine outside. I can’t figure out how many times I walked into the North Dinning Hall waiting in a line for the delicious omelet or chicken stir fry, and how many afternoons I have spent in the study lounge looking up the words in my biochemistry book. Time flies, bringing away the pages of calendar, and leaving me the best memories of the past days.

Yet I still remember those earliest emails I received from UCONN Education Abroad eleven months ago, which instructed me how to finish a syllabus substitution form. Since then Sara’s name has become a symbol of UCONN to me. I still remember during those days my best effort to translate the syllabi provided by my teachers into English, and my worrying whether there would be any grammatical mistakes in the emails I sent to UCONN. Something went wrong with my MyHousing account just half a day before the deadline of housing application, but it got fixed just some hours after I sent the email to Residential Life. I took the interview of visa application on a hot summer day, and was surprised at the high processing efficiency which enabled me to get my visa just four days later. Everything happened just like it took place one day before.

Never will I forget the feeling of swinging back and forth by Mirror Lake, the small rainbows beside the fountain under sunshine, and the reflection of trees on that small island on the glinting surface of water. Leaves turned from green to red and bright yellow in autumn. I took photos for them, keeping them in my memory card, and in my memory. Once upon a time I went to UCONN official website and saw a photo of the whole campus taken from high in the sky. It was in the beginning of this year, and I was attracted by a spherical building which I found so unique. Eight months later when standing at the entrance of Gampel Pavilion I could hardly believe how fast time passes.

If only I could have one more minute, I would walk to every corner of the campus, reading the stories of each old building, and looking for the small squirrels in the maple trees.

If only I could have one more minute, I would sit on that swing again, back and forth letting the breeze bring away all my worries and sadness.

If only I could have one more minute, I would go up to the small hill behind North Campus, sitting on the grass, doing nothing but to see the beautiful sunset, and the colors changing at the very border of the sky.

Yet I know that minute may never come after this month. Hardly can I figure out when I will be here next time. I would come back, if I could have that chance, to see the appearance of new Student Recreation Center, to buy a post card in bookstore, to pick a maple leaf as my bookmark, and to walk into the ball room of Student Union, recalling that day in summer with delicious ice-creams, hugs with Sara and Katrina on that Wednesday, and my best memories in University of Connecticut.

Written by: Xingyu Zhou 

How do you see UConn?

One of the main and most outstanding difference between UConn’s campus and my home university is the amount of clubs and type of organizations. I can’t count them in UConn because there are clearly too much of them but, to be fair, it is probably to make up with the emptiness of the surroundings; I mean, there is not much to do in the countryside without a car.

However, it should not stop you from coming to UConn since the campus is very active and there are a lot of things to do on campus. There are clubs for almost everything, from poetry to Korean culture or baseball, even puppy therapy or quidditch – yes, the game from Harry Potter!! Besides, all the clubs receive a lot of money, so if you want to save some of yours and reimburse your UConn’s fees with American students’ money, feel free to join many clubs to win a lot free tee-shirts and other goodies, huge amount of free food, and also very nice funding for traveling at the expense of UConn.

For example, I’m just coming back from a trip to Washington DC where 75% of my plane ticket was paid by UConn; it is hard to say no to an opportunity like that! And I won’t lie, it is always super nice to come back to civilization after too many weeks in the countryside. 

Huskies International invading DC (picture by Fannie Dauphant)

There are also other outdoors activities, funded as well, such as hiking, whitewater rafting or caving; in that case, being in the countryside is super appropriate!

Some of the outdoor activities, because why not? (picture by Fannie Dauphant)

 There are so many clubs and organizations that you will find something you are interested in. Plus, it is easy to meet people and make friends through clubs, fraternities and sororities, whether it is to have fun, party or networking. I really appreciate to have so many opportunities easy to take like that. In my home university everything is very complicated for those kind of things. So if you want to try new activities, meet with people, and travel at cheap cost to different locations in the East coast, UConn’s is one of the good place to do so!