Editor in chief says goodbye to friends

By Amanda Koehler
Collegian Staff
April 25, 2007

The moment I first walked onto La Salle’s campus, I knew I was home. Sounds corny, I know, but it’s the truth. My parents made me visit the school a few more times to make sure it was where I wanted to go, but I had already made up my mind – I was going to be an Explorer.

During my senior year of high school, I couldn’t wait to leave and start my new life at La Salle. The days moved by so slowly, and high school graduation couldn’t come soon enough.

Now I look back and wonder where the time has gone. It seems like yesterday I was moving into St. Katharine’s, sweating madly in the August heat and nervous about living somewhere new. And now it’s almost over. Although I know our school is not perfect, I still believe it was the school for me. Like any university, it has its flaws, but I will always remember La Salle for its positives and not its negatives.

I love our beautiful campus, and the fact that if you are walking on Main or South Campus, you can completely forget that you are in the middle of a city. I love the peaceful feeling I get when I’m on the third floor of Connelly Library (I’m a nerd, I know). And I love Treetops quesadillas and chocolate mousse.

But what I really love about La Salle, and what makes it truly home to me, is the people.

Even when I was a prospective student considering La Salle, I felt that there was a difference between the people here and the people at other schools I was visiting. Lasallians are friendlier, warmer. Whether it’s a “have a good day, baby” from a B&G or Treetops worker or an interesting conversation with a professor, you feel like you are wanted here.

The professors at La Salle are extremely knowledgeable and experienced in their fields. I was amazed sitting in some classes and listening to my professors spout wisdom (told you I was a nerd!). Whether they were lecturing about proper interview techniques, the importance of Citizen Kane, the different kinds of feminism, Jackson Pollock or how Beethoven changed the sonata-allegro form, I would leave class feeling like the last hour or so of my life was well-spent.

The students here are extraordinary as well. Everyone is so different and special in his or her own way. My peers at La Salle are truly individuals and have their own unique ways about them. I have made some incredible friends, and I will look back and cherish the fun times that we have had.

During my years here, we have experienced loss and tragedy on many different levels. Despite these hard times, our little community comes together to support each other. Through writing two stories about students who passed away this year, I have seen how the students, faculty and administration here help each other through difficult times of grief.

I have personally been a recipient of this support. Recently, I had to leave campus for a while because of a family emergency. I received many supportive calls and e-mails from friends, professors and administrators at La Salle. Just knowing that my La Salle family cared about me and was praying for me while I was at home with my own family made me feel valued.

I can’t forget the group of Lasallians who I have spent hours and hours with in the dungeon (also known as the Union basement) —my Collegianers. I have met so many wonderful, interesting people while working on the Collegian these past four years. We are an eclectic, hardworking (and sometimes weird) bunch. I don’t think a lot of people realize how hard the editors work to put out a newspaper every week.

Collegianers past and present – I am so blessed to have worked with you, learned from you and to be able to call you my friends. To my staff this year – I love you all and will truly miss you, although I know you won’t miss trying to decipher my handwriting. I am so proud of everyone, and I know you will all do a wonderful job. Stand up for what’s right, be responsible journalists and remember that Old Man Amanda is just a phone call away if you need her.

koehlera1@lasalle.edu