It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since I moved to Indianapolis from Boston and joined the working world. Just over a year ago I graduated from Notre Dame and my friends spread out around the country (and outside the country!) to places like New York, Chicago, LA, Minneapolis, Dallas, and even Japan! The friends I had done everything with for the past four years - living together, going to countless meals, studying, playing sports, going on vacations, and enjoying many nights out - were going our separate ways to pursue careers in many different fields. I have friends who are now in medical school, law school, working in finance, accounting, consulting, teaching, psychology counseling, film production, engineering, and several friends in the navy and air force. It's pretty neat how wide a variety of interests and career pursuits have come out of a group of people who seem so similar in many ways and spent so much time together during college.
Although we're so spread out now and only get together several times a year (for those who are lucky and relatively close to each other), each time we do see one another it really feels like a continuation of our time at Notre Dame. It's like no time at all has passed - for the way it feels, we may as well have been hanging out at one of our senior year houses in South Bend the day before. That's what is so great about having such great, close friends - even though we're not together all the time like we used to be, we can still talk and hang out as though nothing has changed. I know I'll stay in touch with a lot of these friends for the rest of my life - and that we'll still be meeting up at ND football games when we're 50.
I'm taking a trip up to Notre Dame in a week, and I couldn't be more excited. Every time I return to campus, I feel like I am welcomed back home. I still get goosebumps sometimes when I drive up Notre Dame Avenue and see the Golden Dome shining in the sun. Not only is Notre Dame itself very special, but I'm always able to see some of my friends who are there for one reason or another. Each fall now, when a new freshman class begins their time at Notre Dame, I'm sure I'll continue to feel slightly jealous that they still have that time ahead of them. But I also know I will always be a part of the "Notre Dame family" and when I meet fellow alumni, we can talk about familiar experiences even if we never met while in school there.
Next summer, I'm getting married in the Basilica at Notre Dame. Since my fiance and I met while at school there, we both love Notre Dame and could think of no better place to get married. It will also be wonderful to gather many of our close friends together back at ND - and will probably be the first time we'll all be back on campus together since graduation.
Just over a year after graduation, it's strange to realize I've been away from Notre Dame for an entire academic year. In many ways, it feels like a lot has happened since graduation. But at the same time, it seems like just yesterday I was in the midst of college and called Notre Dame "home." I think I will always feel at home when I visit for years to come. In the words of the Alma Mater, "Golden is thy fame, and our hears forever Love Thee Notre Dame!"
