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.”