New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

New York University's independent student newspaper, established in 1973.

Washington Square News

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Found Goodbyes — to the Class of 2020

A cento-technique poem compiling quotes from senior interviewees for this year’s last Special Issue.
Illustration+by+Charlie+Dodge.
Illustration by Charlie Dodge.

I would miss
4 a.m. on a Sunday,
how precious —
all those late nights
you need to stay up
for your life,
resilient,
surfing
the lack of sleep,
circling Oxford commas.

I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Something familiar —
weekends out to soccer games
the fluorescent basement dungeons of Bobst
the hamstring-debilitating steps of Kimmel —
probably lost
writing in a time like this,
a few years of my life,
three years
editing the last thing
you become,
that’s pretty scary.

And here’s to a chance
to come out —
growth and mistakes —
lingering
from the office,
seeing professors,
hearing lectures,
gaining advice.

Saying goodbye
isn’t a daunting feeling

even if it means
we walked home
as a student,
stepped out into the real world
when the sun was rising.

You’re still young
class of 2020
the strongest
yet.

Email Maxine Flasher-Duzgunes at [email protected]. A version of this article appears in the Friday, May 8, 2020, print edition. Read more from Washington Square News’ “While You Were Here 2020.”

About the Contributor
Maxine Flasher-Duzgunes, Voices Editor
Maxine graduates in May with a B.F.A. in Dance and a Minor in English Literature. She is on the way to publishing her first novella, through Eileen (VerbalEyze Press), and presenting a thesis on choreographic procedure. She is a longtime fan of the August POetry POstcard Festival — if you’ve been longing to send your poems to strangers, check it out! Her favorite phrase to use in her poetry is “sea glass” — a worn remnant of rejection appearing only to scavengers of beauty. Read some of her words @poeticabythebay.
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