Saying
Goodbye
Getting together with your group of friends for a final meal, party, or
Happy Hour is a great thing to do. But
let me encourage you to take some time to do something special for those
friends who have been especially meaningful to you during your sojourn at
Trinity. Indeed, there are probably a
few faculty and staff who have been especially meaningful as well.
Here’s my recommendation for a simple gift that will mean a great deal
to the students, faculty, and staff for whom you feel the greatest affection
and gratitude: give each person a
message tailored just for that person, a memento of your relationship.
Your message might include personal qualities in the other that you have
valued, specific memories that you treasure, and specific examples of one or
two times during your Trinity sojourn that the other was especially meaningful
to you. In short, express your gratitude
and cite at least one or two specific memories.
And, of course, express whatever regret you feel that you won’t see each
other as often and hope you might stay in touch—if indeed you do!
In this age of electronic communication, your expression of gratitude
will be especially powerful if you write it by hand. Doing so would make it distinctive. A hand-written note could become a memento
that the other person would keep and value.
You might write your messages in greeting cards, but it would also be
okay simply to use ordinary paper. The
mere fact that you made the thoughtful effort to write a personal message will
be meaningful, regardless of the stationery.
Or your penmanship.
And there’s no right way to deliver it, either. A one-on-one time with each person may be
comfortable for you. Or maybe not. Perhaps you are too shy. Perhaps you can talk one-on-one with your
friends, but not with that “intimidating” professor whose class made a
difference in your life. Or perhaps you
are determined not to cry. It’s okay to
send a message through campus mail or the U.S. Postal Service if you can’t do
deliver it in person.
Your message may open the door for the other person to share with you,
and a conversation may ensue. If so, I
hope you will be able to embrace it. And
if you cry, then I hope you can accept those tears and see them as an
additional gift you give the other.
