By Shoshanna Crompton, Class of 2025
The theme of the Columbia International University 2025 Junior/Senior Formal was Enchanted Magical Gardens and the Riverbanks Zoo Botanical Gardens made for an ideal venue to match the night’s theme. The women wore long dresses in a multitude of colors while the guys dressed in suits of grey, black, or navy blue.
Twinkling fairy lights were draped overhead in the trees and in the banisters of arches. Torches lined the path to the dining hall, keeping the area lit the whole evening for romantic strolls and opportune picture spots. Party guests were treated to soda or sweet tea and Southern style appetizers for refreshments. Students engaged in conversation for the first hour as everyone arrived and then a few brave students got on the dance floor. Once the dancing got going, the students danced for hours, some taking breaks at the tables, at the photo booths, or on strolls through the garden outside. The DJ led the students through several songs and a game of “clothespin” where clothespins were left around the room for students to clip on the person they choose in an attempt to record the most clothespins on one person without their noticing.
I enjoyed my time celebrating senior year with my fellow senior and junior friends, and appreciated that Student Life and the Student Government Association put together a special night for us.
I had a bittersweet moment when I realized that I knew every face and name of all who attended but that soon, in whatever workplace I end up in post-graduation, I’ll have to start over again and learn every face and every name. In the next couple of years, those in attendance will be scattered across the world, each engaged in their own post-graduation plans, and we may never be in the same room together again. It is a great comfort to feel that you are known by people, and to know them in turn. It is a hard thing to leave an environment where everyone has grown comfortable with one another through years of friendship, study and work together.
Though these upcoming weeks have the air of excitement and trepidation for what’s to come, it is somewhat tainted by the melancholy of leaving the comfortable behind. There is a sad element to graduating, but I am grateful that I am sad, because that means that my experience at CIU has been a good one.
Higher learning. Deeper faith. A Christ-centered community on campus and online. Request Info | Apply | Give
