By Jackie Glosniak

April 16, 2014

As I sit here writing my last college newspaper editorial, I cannot believe how quickly the past four years have come and gone. While it sounds super cliché, I really feel like freshman year was only a few months ago. In retrospect, I have completed so many homework assignments, worked many hours and interviewed countless numbers of people.

On a sunny, 90-degree afternoon back in August of 2010, my mom dropped me off in the Coughlin Commons, not “Caaaghlin,” as I was quickly reminded, with bins full of dorm decor and bags full of clothes. I was ready to embark on the biggest journey of my life thus far and I truly had no idea the surprises I was headed for.

During my time at Dominican, I have had the opportunity to enjoy being a student athlete, a journalist and a resident assistant. From day one, I knew that Dominican would be the perfect place to be a big fish in a small pond. While I had yet to meet friends and faculty during the first night I spent on campus, I made a promise to myself that I would not let four years pass me by and that I would not allow for myself to regret not taking risks and seizing as many opportunities as I could.

On one of my first practice runs with the cross-country team as a freshman, our coach gave us a pretty lengthy route around both River Forest and Oak Park. While I come from a suburb only 15 minutes away from Dominican, it the first time that I actually got to explore the neighborhood surrounding the university. It was while I was running when I assured myself that I had chosen the right college to attend. Dominican was not too big, situated in the midst of a beautiful community, only a train ride away from the beautiful city of Chicago and most importantly, not too far away from home. It was important for me to grow as an individual while at the same time remembering the importance of staying connected to home.

No matter what your interests are or where you come from, I truly feel as though Dominican can easily become home to every student who first clutches onto their folder full of information during SOAR. 

At Dominican, we don’t need Greek life to have a good time; we have an enthusiastic Campus Activities Board that works so hard to bring entertainment and fun during the day and Madison Street at night, the unofficial haven for college students to dance the night away.

I have made friends from communities very different from my own and yet realized that we are not all that different. Dominican has served as an excellent example of the real world in which people from all walks of life can come together and truly find that they have more in common than they could have ever imagined. When I graduate in a few weeks, I will definitely miss the countless late night talks and IHOP runs. Let’s face it, after 10 p.m., the adult world is going to demand that we be in bed for our 8 a.m. jobs, not throwing our coats on for a 3-hour gab session.

For my fellow graduates of the class of 2010, can you believe that we are the last generation of students that survived “Snowpocalypse 2011?” Whatever all the underclassmen say about this past “Chi-beria” has nothing on us! If you were a resident student, you were snowed in eating boxed lunches in the Dining Hall that felt like fallout shelter rationed portions and played hide and go seek in Power Hall that ironically, had no power at all. And, I’m sure so many commuters had the unfortunate pleasure of being stuck shoveling their driveways and stairs for hours on end. The snow just did not stop that year!

Class-specific nostalgia aside, you know you’re a Dominican student when you have a love/hate relationship with Chartwells, are confused when you first see the school motto (Ca-ve, ri-ri, tas-tas, what the heck is that?), when homecoming revolves around a soccer game, when you realize Hogwarts has nothing on this campus and you know basically every single person who walks by you in the hallway.

Dominican has been a special and unique place on the timeline of my life and I can only hope that the wonderful faculty and friendly students continue to inspire future students and demonstrate to them that attending Dominican is both a blessing and privilege.

When my funds allow for me to do so, I will make sure that I donate money to Dominican so that future students can have the same nostalgic memories I have had and many more. I will forever be grateful to Dominican for providing me the opportunity to grow as a journalist, learn more about the world around me and eat countless amounts of potatoes.