Exactly a year ago, my friend Isabel Forward ‘20 wrote her own letter to the Class of 2020, hardly a month after campus was suddenly closed because of the oncoming pandemic. She said something that resonated with me, especially now: “in this big and scary world, none of us are really strangers”. Plenty has changed since then, and in many ways, the world has gotten a lot scarier. 

Despite it all, I look back on what the Class of 2021 has experienced, and I am filled with optimism for where we are going next.

Together, we experienced a Championship, a Super Bowl, the Great Spit Fire of 2017, a transformation of campus. Walk through campus on Lancaster, and notice an entire half was not there when many of us moved into South Campus. I write this letter from my apartment in the Commons, which were by then no more than a slab of concrete. The bridge existed only on paper, which certainly did not help anyone make it to their morning class in Tolentine. The Mendel Field we see now was engulfed in a series of trenches and pipes, for an infamously long period. These constant changes defined our time at Villanova. But our community is not just a gathering of buildings.

Apart, we lived through a global pandemic, which has stolen something from each of us. What we all lost was the time we expected to have together. For a while, it was not certain we would get it back. Our place on campus became dependent on the ebb and flow of an online dashboard. Predominantly online classes even made being on campus a weird, unnatural experience. It cramped our style.

Now, the world is finally emerging from this fever dream of a year. We can finally look behind us and see that maybe there was beauty in the chaos. As distant as we were at times, over Zoom or states apart, we really never have been strangers.

Our path has granted us a renewed appreciation for humanity and community. It has been a year of reunions, running into friends we have not seen since pre-pandemic, or perhaps even pre-abroad. Grabbing a drink with roommates from St. Mo’s, or seeing former teammates. Little interactions are suddenly monumental.

Carry that appreciation into the next step, no matter where it is. While we are here, enjoy every moment, as you already should. The next moment is coming anyway, so let’s relax, and finally take the time to enjoy this one. 

Our time together on campus now may be precious, but it will always be here for us to come back to, like a second home. Who knows how it will change next. Whatever the case, we have all been a part of it.

Thank you Class of 2021, and congratulations.