July 23 - Last Day!

This day had to come eventually. If experiencing all the emotions of the past 24 hours wasn’t hard enough, I now have to relive them and attempt to sum them up in a single blog entry. Impossible? Pretty much. It seems like words can only trivialize the full extent of emotion that we all felt during our last hours together as a Shad community. However, I guess I’ll have to try:

Our final day started with the closing of our variety show curtains at 12 am. We did a quick clean up of the church hall before meeting back at the Cameron Room for our last surprise shad event. No one knew quite what was in store when our house leaders placed blindfolds on each of us, but we trustingly followed them through the streets of Dal to the secret location of our closing ceremonies. What happened in those next two hours was incredibly special. We cried, laughed, smiled and cried some more, and I can honestly say that I’ve never felt so close to so many people. The reality that we would soon be parting ways truly hit us when we left that room, with the first Shad set to leave in just under an hour. Back at Cameron, we frantically signed monthbooks and tried to say our last goodbyes as one by one our new friends headed for home…

So, what’s left to say? This month was like no other. Although I left the doors of Howe Hall with tears streaming down my face, I also left with many things that will stay with me for the rest of my life. I’ll keep with me the countless memories that we shared; the self-confidence I gained in our completely positive and supportive community; the invaluable teamwork skills that I learned; and, of course, my Canada (and Maine)-wide, 49 person support network.

Goodbye friends, I know we’ll be saying hello again soon.

Annie Pike, Shad Valley Dalhousie University 2010
Hometown: Victoria, British Columbia