Final Farewell

And here we have it, folks, the last day of Women and Leadership.

As expected, the last two hours and a half of class were filled with tears. Everyone was fine until we were given string and told to tie it around everyone's wrist while providing an affirmation. It was
amazing to see how everyone had loved the class as much as I had, and that we'd all managed to

Tina, Christine and I taking a few of our last photos together

establish extremely close friendships in such a short amount of time.

Surprisingly, I didn't cry. Granted, I did choke up a little and came close to shedding a few tears, but something stopped me: I didn't feel as though this was the end. I would be seeing these wonderful people again, be it in a few decades or a few years.

After our final session of class and a lunch break, the Leadership Institute filed into Macmillan Hall for a final lecture by Kisa Takesue, the director. Kisa addressed the families, friends, and guardians of the students, going over the mission of the Leadership Institute. The teachers gave a short explanation of their course, and even the TAs briefly introduced themselves. Finally, the meeting was concluded by a sweet slideshow of photos that illustrated our experiences at Brown.

The gathering was dismissed and we were all told to meet with our assigned groups for the Action
Plan speeches. Believe it or not, I was less anxious than I had been the day before: I would be speaking in front of less people, who were essentially strangers, and I had already practiced the thing a few times. I was ready to conclude my membership as a student in Women in Leadership; I was ready to say goodbye.

As expected, I failed to psych myself out this time, and I delivered my speech with much more finesse. I felt proud that I was able to conclude such an amazing course with respectable work.

When our groups had finished presenting and we found each other in front of Macmillan Hall, we had another round of group photos and heartfelt conversations. I even went over with a few of my classmates to be filmed by some of the staff. We were told that the video would be posted on Brown's website and then were asked a few questions concerning our experiences at Brown.

After a final goodbye to Tina and Christine, our lovely instructor and TA, the ILC girls and our friends accompanied me back to the dorms. Once we had managed to get our luggage down the stairs (there are no elevators), we allowed ourselves a few moments for hugs and tearful farewells.

Everything went by so quickly, almost as if it hadn't happened. I can't believe I was able to get so close to a group of other people in such a short amount of time, and all those in-class discussions about intersectionality seem like a dream. I suppose if I liked my two weeks here so much, I'll just have to apply to Brown.

Showing our solidarity after giving each other affirmations.