Farewell Waubonsee Community College

As the children sang in The Sound of Music, “so long, farewell” it is time to move on to the next stage of life. Waubonsee Community College blessed my life in more ways than I can ever thank them for.

I will begin by pointing out (so others don’t have to) that I did not want to go to college at all. Every bit of me hated the idea of college and I did not see the need for it. I was so serious about this that I wrote a paper for one of my college English classes on why college is not necessary and should not be required.

My first semester was awful, and I continued to resent my parents for making me go. I wanted to drop out every single day as it did not bring me any joy going to classes or doing homework. In fact, if you told me that I would be moving on to obtain my bachelor’s degree, I would have laughed in your face.

As time went on, I fell in love with college life. I made friends that kept me company in my classes, I got heavily involved with extracurriculars, I made it into honor societies, and I felt welcomed by my community.

The first club I ever joined my freshman year was Dance Club. I joined this club for the sole purpose to only go to the first meeting to satisfy the two girls at the table during the involvement fair. I haven’t danced since I was 11 years old, why would I start again at 18? I went to the introductory meeting with a friend who was a much more recent dancer than I was and funny enough, I stuck with it and she quit the club. Fast forward to my sophomore year and I helped run the club as Vice President.

I got invited into an honor society during my second semester of my first year. Now, I never was a part of any of these “smart people clubs” in high school, so to be invited to one (and then three other ones later on-I only joined one other one though) meant everything to me. I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa in February 2019 and instantly started to go to meetings despite joining a semester late than everyone else. I have gone to almost every meeting since then to the last meeting of my final semester.

That same semester from February to May, I was a part of the Engaging Leaders Program where we would have workshops to learn how to improve our leadership skills and to develop knowledge on what being a good leader really means. At the end of the program, we wrote our own Leadership Philosophy basically describing what kind of leader we are.

The last club I joined at Waubonsee was Creative Writing Club during my sophomore year. Everyone accepted me and treated me as if I was a member for as long as they were. I believe it is very clear that I enjoy writing (hence why I have this blog and published a book), so this was a nice way to refresh my skills. This past semester I was fortunate enough to be the president and social media manager/marketer for the club (which is a lot more work than you would think!)

I will treasure the group of friends I made through my time in the Student Center, all my fellow comm majors throughout my classes, and of course the teachers that helped me in my journey of ending with a 4.0 and graduating with Presidential Honors.

I will for sure miss my time at this school, but it is now time to move on to my “big girl” school, Northern Illinois University, and step foot into the journalism world.

Thank you, Waubonsee, for all the amazing memories, and thank you, everyone, for reading,

Elisa Reamer

“I am capable of doing Incredible things, I will Achieve Greatness In my pursuits.” - The Fates Will Harmonize for You, RH Fowler