Reminiscing

I went to the Ave Reunion!!!

I can’t believe that it worked out for me to go! It should not surprise me, however, for my entire time at AMC was full of surprises, starting from the very beginning. The first time I heard of Ave was in August, and classes were starting in three weeks. I was surprised that the whole process from applying to being accepted with a nice scholarship took only a week. (I should have known something was not quite right). When I arrived, I was surprised that the Academic Building was in shambles. An absolute disaster area. There was sheetrock everywhere. Wires were hanging in random places from the ceiling. People were running around aimlessly. I think I stood in shock for eons, staring openmouthed at this war zone where my new school was supposed to be.

I was stunned when I showed up just days later for orientation. Miraculously, the building had transformed. It was now possible to imagine sitting in a classroom without fearing the ceiling would cave in. I’m sure the rest of my class was not so impressed, but they weren’t privileged with seeing the state of affairs just two days prior. There were still men walking around on stilts, and people were caring boxes here and there and everywhere, but it at least looked like the inside of a building.

My next shock was in my first Latin class with Dr. Wright. She had frizzy hair covered by a funky hat, low top, short skirt, and FISHNET stockings! Not to mention the stilettos that she tottered around on and which threatened to snap her toothpick ankle any moment if she slipped. I distinctly remember thinking how utterly ridiculous it was that I was taking Latin from this funny lady who looked like a mad scientist (I soon learned that under her exocentric exterior was a sweet, sensitive and brilliant Linguist- another surprise).

I was surprised when I moved into my dorm about a month after classes began (I was off-campus living with family friends). Our phones didn’t work!!!! That’s right, folks, OUR PHONES DIDN’T WORK!!!!!!!! We had to call home from the front desk of the Academic Building, and there was always a line, which meant not only did you feel like you had to rush through your conversation, but everyone was listening. Our heat didn’t work, either. (Most of the winter was spent huddled under blankets). To top everything off, the only computers on campus were the ones in the Library. And when they finally put machines in the computer lab, it closed when the common room did! None of this was what I signed up for.

However, we struggled through that year, studding, working, laughing, eating our “home-style meals” in Holy Trinity’s basement, bonding and getting to know one another. Living together in the same building really brought our class together. We’d have brunch in someone’s room on Sunday morning after Mass, and linger on, trying to pretend we didn’t have a paper to write. I don’t remember a single day during that year where I could honestly claim to be all caught up on my papers! Quiet hours were strictly enforced, but we managed to get around that… Oh, yeah! Movies in the laundry room, conversations in the hallway as far away from the Haley’s apartment as possible, all night study sessions in the stairwell, and the list goes on…

We had a grand time, that freshman year. I’m not sure if any of us realized how much fun we were having, fun that will never be duplicated. The rest of my time at Ave was exciting, and the surprises never stopped coming, but after our first year, we wouldn’t have known how to deal with life if it were uneventful! Despite the unexpected twists and turns that made up my Ave experience, there was a peace inside of me that told me this was where I needed to be.

I think that this inner peace (along with a ton of other emotions, don’t get me wrong!) was the string that tied one day to the next, one semester to another, from the first year to the last, at least for me. I always knew that God had a special plan for my dear Ave, and for me as well.

Even now, when my dear school has closed down, I still feel an inner peace, and I know that whatever happens, my beloved Ave is in God’s hands. And wouldn’t it be a grand surprise if she didn’t stay closed?

Peace and surprises… that’s what I’ll remember when I think back on Ave.