Sean Dollete
First Year Integrative Seminar I
Professor Rory O’Dea
18 September 2015
Bridge Assignment # 2
Farewell Letter To Home
Dear Squad,
Well I guess that time has come. And as much as I didn’t want this moment to happen or wish we had more time, we unfortunately have to face reality. I really hope I was able to express how much you guys mean to me, how much I love you all and how much I’m going to miss you. It honestly is a fear of mine to be unable to convey how much people mean to me because I just have so much love for all of you and I want you to know it and feel it fully. Let me tell you something about the person I use to be. To be completely honest, I use to be the kind of person who only felt love and happiness through a significant other. If I didn’t have a boyfriend, I would feel lonely and sad. I would spend so much time finding and talking to guys on sketchy dating applications instead of doing my homework. If things didn’t work out, I would take it really hard because in my head, I blamed the failure of the relationship on me. I would feel unmotivated, and depressed. I would deal with it in very unhealthy ways. Ultimately, it broke and destroyed me. So now you know who I use to be. Now allow me to tell you about who I am today. I can confidently, and wholeheartedly say that I absolutely do not miss having a boyfriend. I had dating apps open for literally two minutes and I wanted to puke. I also had a tinder for a hot minute and that hot minute was the extent of my interest. I no longer spend hours thinking about guys or who will my next boyfriend be or waste time trying to find a boyfriend.
Basically what I want to say is…thank you. The thing I am most thankful for that this group has given me is the ability to find love in people that matter to me and most importantly, myself. All the love, time, and effort that I would normally put into finding a boyfriend I put in my friends and myself. To be completely honest, I feel like Taylor Swift but she is the most accurate representation of my feelings. I put all my love into this amazing group of people, and in return you gave me the same and so much more. I didn’t need to rely on a significant other to feel love. You all, every time we hung out, showed me love so much more superior than any boy could give me. You listened, you trusted me, you believed in me, you accepted me, you understood me, you were there for me. Through everything. It’s everything I’ve spent so much time looking for but I failed to realize it sooner that it was actually right in front of me. Thank you. Thank you for loving me and sticking with me through all the ups and downs, the highs and the lows. Thank you for accepting my flaws. I have been so insecure about so many things, and I’ve overcome many of them this summer with all you guys. You’ve experienced me at my most vulnerable moments, and instead of judging me, your perception of me didn’t change and I felt like you loved me even more, and i just can’t thank you enough for that. You being okay with my hindrances has helped me accept them. Thank you for being more than a friend to me. You’ve been my support system, my personal therapists, my family. Thank you for the late night adventures, the spontaneous hang outs, the McDonalds runs, the shade, the feelings circles, the illegal crimes, the laughs, the tears, and the memories. I’ll cherish each and every one of them because this was the best summer I have ever had and it’s all because of you guys. I apologize if there were times where I ever disappointed you. For the times where I wasn’t enough, for the times where I didn’t say the right thing, for the times where I didn’t think before speaking, for not being there, and for not knowing the right things to say. I appreciate that despite all that, you guys still stuck with me and loved me, if not more.
This group is a crazy, beautiful thing. And it’s all because you guys each contribute something special to it. No one likes feeling alone. No one likes being excluded. We have all been there. We’re a group of kids who were remnants or shadows of other groups. We unite on the fact of being the losers, the different kids, the kids who didn’t make sense. We understand each other because we can relate to being misunderstood. I hope you guys remain to sneak out, cause trouble, talk about your feelings, sit in playgrounds, watch the stars, and talk more about your feelings. We are actually friendship goals. We prove that we don’t need to go to parties all the time to have fun, and get drunk. We can be honest and real about issues or feelings that we’re having. We don’t need to do extravagant, expensive things, and that there’s fun in sitting in a field, talking, listening to music, and just being together. We are perfectly content with each other’s company, and we don’t ask for anything more. This group has meant so much to me. It has been an escape when life got way too complicated. When my house didn’t feel like a home. When I felt alone. I looked to this group to distract me from stressful things that came with growing up. This group took away the loneliness and the sadness. This group helped me fight away the demons . And I hope you continue to do that for each other. Continue to be there for each other, fight for each other, listen to each other and do anything and everything for each other because that is what this group is about. (Other than eating McDonald’s) I love you. I’m feeling really anxious right now because I feel like I could say so much more to prove that I love you guys so much. Just thank you for everything. I know that It’s a horrible phrase to try and cover for all the things I am forgetting to mention. But I love each and every one of you so much. Finally, thank you for making it really hard to say goodbye.
With all my heart,
Sean