Goodbye, college… email
There are many things I miss about college. I went to the University of California, Santa Cruz, so of course, I miss the fog weaving through campus and walking alone on the majestic wooden bridges and the amazing sunsets over the remote beaches and the hidden spectacles waiting to be discovered in the redwoods. I miss the queer array of personalities ready to share ideas and expand upon identity. Somehow, the right people make themselves known to you, and with the right people rises this beautiful, communal desire to learn and adventure. College just has this tendency to gather so many great things and beautiful minds in one place. It even gathers the student discounts....
Yes, I'm dreading over losing my student discounts. Movies, restaurants, museums, aquariums, bus fairs, on and on. Sometimes people don't look at my Student ID long enough to know that it's expired... so sometimes I get away with it. But alas, it is expired. My online subscriptions are eventually catching up to me. Amazon and Spotify now have ways of checking if you're a student (which is really great for them and horrible for me). Although I'm working, I'm still just as poor as a student, but now lacking the discount boosts. And even though, every time I was kicked off or rejected because I wasn't a student, it never truly fazed me... until now.
Warning! Your UCSC Google Apps and Email account is about to close
I have a love-hate relationship with my UCSC email. I'm talking about long nights emailing teachers and finishing painstaking essays on google docs, logging into the library systems with the email to print out papers, scheduling group meetings with google calendar. That email has stuck with me for five years (not four because they "let you" keep it one year after you graduate). And it's been nearly one year since I graduated, so it's just about gone. And now it's hitting me. I'm an alum, which means that I mean literally nothing to my college if I'm not giving them money. No benefits, no career help, no facility use. Get. We don't want you on our .edu.
Don't get me started about the .edu domain name. It is the epitome of elegance. Yes, I find that period followed by these three letters beautiful. It is simple and incredibly easy to understand. Unforgetable, really. It says, “Hey, I’m in education!" or "I’m in some way associated with education. Give me the discounts! Give me a free gym to work out in! Give me the love!"
I miss the love.
This email felt like my last connection to college. College is this gigantic clique and right now they're kicking me out. So ouch. Yes, I’ve already made a new email a while back, but everything I every worked on with my .edu email, has not synced up to this new email. The struggle of figuring out how to copy everything to my other account, is a huge pain. And every moment I spend transferring over things, is a slap in the face saying, "pick up your life and go." And I get it. They can’t accommodate me anymore —especially with over-booking their classes, over-crowded buses, and over-acceptance of more students than they know what to do with. Surely, they don’t want me holding on any longer.
It seems there have been a lot of signs flashing this idea of school in front of me. I love school. I was good at school. Straight A’s all throughout high school and even into college. Perhaps it's my crutch from "reality". But what is reality if not a series of concepts used as crutches to help you through life; life-crutches. I love learning, but at the same time, I am capable of learning outside of "the place for education". I can educate myself anywhere if I'm open to it. Anyone can. Yes, someday I hope to go back to school. But for now, it’s time. Time to experience life beyond the comfort of school. Time to embark in this newfound independence. Time to manifest concepts and travel down new avenues. Time for change.
Nothing says goodbye more to this era of my life than getting kicked out of my email. So goodbye .edu, I will always love you.