Last Hoorah before the Pandemic: Pop-Up Bonfire
Before everyone left for the break, and before the isolation period, Jackie, a friend who is a senior said that if this was the last time he'll be at Carleton before he graduates, he wanted a bonfire...so seconds later, there was a bonfire! Check out what happened through it all.
Before everyone left for the break, and before the isolation period, Jackie, a friend who is a senior said that if this was the last time he'll be at Carleton before he graduates, he wanted a bonfire...so seconds later, there was a bonfire! Check out what happened through it all.
As we finished up our finals winter term, things got more and more blurry as to whether the college would open up for spring term or whether we will see our friends again before next fall, or sadly, whether our seniors will get to walk their graduation walk or not… and so with all these uncertainties, my friend Jackie came up with the best idea—a pop-up bonfire!
I got a sudden call around 8.00 PM one night from Kellen, saying “Hey, you want to throw a bonfire get-together at Mai Fete island?” and well, what can I say other than “yes!”
I called up a few of my friends, Sachit, An, Emmett and Freya to come join. Together with Kellen and Jackie, there was a few other seniors too, like Josh, Charlie, and Eric.
And so, the wood alighted, and the fire lit up the cold dark evening. Music blasted from our speakers, hot dogs and S’mores grilling by the fire and we all reminisce about the winter term and throwback to when our future was not so clouded. We thought and theorized what was going to happen and spoke words of appreciation and gratitude to one another.
There was also a burning of a thick GRE textbook, elevating the pains of our seniors who had to take the GRE for their grad school applications. I mean, this bonfire is for them, so whatever they feel they need to do to prepare for what to come, I did it with them. I mean that was the last time I was going to see them for a long time, and I am so grateful for these seniors, who had helped me since the moment I set foot on this campus.
I remember Jackie, Charlie and Kellen sitting around a table, helping me solve a bug in my code for my CS class. I would always come by and cook, eat and just relax watching Netflix with them as the weekends come up.
I am pleasantly surprised at the sense of community at Carleton, and through tough and easy times, I’ll never forget the relationships I forged here. My heart goes to all the seniors who had to say goodbye to their fellow classmates who they were not sure if they would ever see again, and after a recent announcement, who they probably wouldn’t be able to see again for a while as the college will remain close for the spring term and graduation commencement is cancelled.
Nevertheless, I believe together we will stay strong and get through this uncertain time!
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Lita hails all the way from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. When not riding horses, petting them, or sketching a picture of them, she blogs her philosophical brain dumps on Medium. Other than that, Lita is passionate about social impact startups and edu-tech. She plans on majoring in Computer Science, but who knows, she could simply switch to Studio Art and spend her days drawing horses. Hey, that’s why we’re at Carleton, am I right? Meet the other bloggers!
