A slight part of me is sad about classes starting tomorrow. It's weird to think that, for the first time since the fall of 1984, I'm not in school. A small part of my heart remains in Columbia. I found comfort in my anonymity and loneliness. I remember all those nights when I felt like no one understood me, and I longed to be somewhere with people with which I had more in common. Sometimes I was so miserable, especially during my junior and senior years, that all I had was hope. And now that I'm closer than ever to doing what I've always wanted to do, the hope has lost it shimmer, and I see how much work I'll have to do to get there. I miss and covet those days of yearning when my nightly jogs were my greatest comfort. I'm glad I'll never have to relive them, but they taught me the value of isolation. Oh yeah, and I got a degree from the nation's number one journalism school.