nathan chow:

Dear Friends,

This is it. My last memories note at BU and the final farewell.

After four years of writing these and after thinking that college couldn’t possibly get any better, all of you managed to prove me wrong. The last four years have been more amazing than I ever asked for, but you’ve really outdone it this time by making my last semester the most memorable.

Just like my traditional end-of-the-semester note, I’ll start off with a list of memories I was fortunate enough to share with you in the Spring of 2009. Most of you were tagged in this note because I spent enough time with you this semester to live, laugh, learn, and have fun together through these moments.

After listing the memories, I’ll also have a special thanks and superlatives section for my whole four years at BU.

And last, but certainly not least, I’ll end with some final farewell words. All of you were tagged in this note because you were an important part of my BU experience at some point and I would like to thank you for it in the final farewell section. These four years would not have been the same without you.

Buuut.. that comes last. Here are the Spring 2009 memories first:

— Spring 2009 Memories —

(roughly in chronological order)

- Living on the 6th floor of Myles. The floormates I’ve met so far: Teddy, Angus, Connie L., Kristin N., Brittany W., Meagan L., Laura A., Jill O., Bridget, Shara, Ryan S., Justin, Ken C., Monika T., Tiffany H., Kerry, Gabrielle J., Davide N., Bianey, Ljubica, Stephanie R., Victor M., Sang-Hyup, Greg H., Rohan J., and of course our RAs Adanta and Johnny F.

- The New York City trip with Sarah W. and Marisa during Winter Break. The Ukrainian Restaurant. Our free admission to the New Museum of Contemporary Art. Strand Bookstore. Riding the L Train back and forth half a dozen times!!

- All the board game nights.. with too many people to name.
- Cranium friendship drama between Sarah and Mariana lol.
- Big Taboo and harassing Bendy Bob.
- How Chandler and I should never be partners in any game.
- Meeting Sumita randomly in LateNite with Brian B.
- The Mafia game in which Sarah W. was on a killing spree.
- All my predictable responses in Poser.
- Weird guessing games with Karen W., Ashley M., and others.

- All the salsa dancing nights at MIT Salsa Dance Socials, Mambos, or BU.
- Mostly with Gretchen, Elissa, Giselle, Katie C., Kimrey, Mike C., Diego, Jackie A., Stephanie R., Stephanie S., Ankita, Nishita, Conrad, Sabrina G., Cristina, Maria M., Francesca, Sandy O., Jose E., Trevor P., and many others.
- The scarf adventure I had with Gretchen walking back from the MIT Winter Salsa Gala.
- The move I invented with Elissa at Mambos.
- Trying to dance while being tickled by Katie C.. lol

- After a year of not seeing her.. Reunion with Hyesung!!!
- Catching up on everything that happened in the past year.

- Irma’s wild birthday party with Maria C., Stephanie C., Camilo, Liz K., Fernando R., and many others.

- Chinese New Year Party at the Howard Thurman Center. My juggling performance while Sarah A. and Kathleen H. played music.

- Tricking Shakeela into thinking I have a Chinese accent.. hahaha!!

- The Back Bay Ball with Nichole F., Gabrielle J., Christine G., Gretchen, and Kimrey. (Even though I swear the guy-girl ratio at BU isn’t 1:5.)

- My birthday!!
- Allie and Laura Anne’s surprise penis cupcake for me in the dining hall. Their humping bunny and “How to Talk Dirty in Every Language” gifts for me.. hahaha.
- Sunset Cantina with Giselle, Matt R., Pat U., Yue, Mike C., Maria C., Sean P., and Carolyn the Dancing Robot Garcia.
- Hanging out in the Spanish House afterwards. Tucking Jacqueline L. into bed.. lol.
- The nearly 200 birthday wishes that flooded my Facebook wall!! Thank you!

- The Redstone Film Festival with Giselle, as Chang and Isabella sat nearby.

- Stephanie S.’s Valentine’s Day Party. Kate M. on the floor.. lol.

- The BU Pub with Maria C., Stephanie C., Betsy, Irma, Sean P., and Becca.

- The January-February birthday party at the Spanish House!!
- Our change in location.. to a more crowded dance floor?
- All my funny gifts and cards. The photos I took with Mike’s gift lol.

- The cute girl who kept following me at Shaw’s and who I finally talked to in the gum aisle.. hehe.

- Hakim and Francis’ Pajama Party with Giselle, Katie C., Gretchen, Elissa, Cristina, Bethany, Jamesy, Barbra, Vaughn, and others.
- Connect 4. Dance Partyyy.

- Having my sexuality being debated on JuicyCampus.com!! hahahaha (Although I have a feeling I wasn’t supposed to have found it entertaining.)

- SPRING BREAK IN MAINE AND QUEBEC!!!!!!!!
- With Sima, Mike, Conrad, Kimrey, Gretchen, Navin, and Brian B.
- Lighthouses, coastline, and sightseeing.
- Our super nice and cheap apartment in Quebec City.
- Croissant jokes in a French accent.
- Ferry ride. Titanic scene re-enactment with Gretchen! lol
- Truth or dare game. The most memorable dares: pants, peanut butter, upside-down, hair gel.
- The prank that Gretchen and I pulled on Kimrey!! Most amazing thing ever looool
- Menage-a-trois!!!
- The Frontenac
- Snow fights, chocolate wars, tickle wars, wrestling wars in bed, soccer in mud and ice, fights for the shower (not to be confused with shower fights).
- Montreal: Gay Village, the Olympic Stadium, the Biodome, clubbing at St. Winston Churchill’s.
- Philosophical talk with Mike and Kimrey until 7 am.
- Pickle surprise!!!
- My competition with Mike in getting hit by Kimrey and Gretchen.
- Mmmm Maine lobster.
- Shortbus.. lol
- All my blonde moments.

- Chris H.’s surprise birthday dinner at Papa Razzi with Brea, Mark C., Michelle G., Raja, and others. Everyone using their camera to take candid paparazzi photos of each other.

- Oh Henry…

- Juggling Association memories:
- With Andrew L., Michi, Victor C., Tim D., David B., Alex W., Peter Panic, and others
- My solo performance at the Alice in FitRec Land special exhibit.
- Teaching Diego to juggle in an hour!
- BU Juggling’s hot date with Habitat for Humanity during their Sleepout. We helped them promote their cause, while they helped us get some publicity too!
- BU Beach juggling.
- Juggling for the Shelton BBQ Dinner.

- Ice skating with Nichole, who tried teaching me figure skating moves. Learning the two-feet spin.

- Kill/Marry/Screw game with Sarah W., Mariana, and Brian B. It was revealed that I’d rather do a meat grinder than a certain girl who likes me…

- Hakim’s 21st birthday party at the Dugout with Francis P., Andrew J., Barbra, Abbey, and others.

- Rossella’s BU visit!
- Our subsequent late-night Facebook chat conversations.

- Plays/musicals I saw:
- “The Year of Magical Thinking” at the Lyric Stage Theater
- “Hamlet” featuring Laura Anne and Sarah G.!
- “Hair” by BU On Broadway

- The Myles oil spill and our evacuation. Seeking refuge in Katie’s room in the Spanish House lol.

- All my Tuesday man dates with Mike C. in Towers.

- My family’s visit to Boston and my sister Jasmine’s stay at BU.
- Arnold Arboretum to take pictures of flowers.
- Poser board game with Jasmine and others. How everyone thought my answers and Jasmine’s were so similar in their inappropriateness.
- Maluken Japanese restaurant with Jasmine, Kimrey, Mike C., and Gretchen.
- North End and Mike’s Pastry with Jasmine, Giselle, Sarah W., and Marisa.

- The Irish step-dancing event by BU’s Step About Boston! Ceili dance with Kelley, Liz K., Maddie, Kerry M., and others. Advance, retreat, spin. Advance, retreat, spin. Repeat, repeat, repeat.. until dizzy.

- Agganis Arena to watch the televised ice hockey championship game between BU and Miami University of Ohio!
- With Elissa, Mohamed, Abdullah, Stephanie R., Stephanie S., Ankita, Nishita, and others.
- Free ice skating while the game was on the Jumbotron.
- BU scored TWO goals in the very last minute to tie a 3-1 deficit… then scored the game-winning goal in overtime to be the national champions!!
- The celebration parade with Yue. The day was officially declared by Boston’s Mayor Menino as Terrier Day.

- Multicultural Weekend!!
- My super outgoing and enthusiastic guest Xavier N. All his salsa skillzz.
- Jokes with Xavier, Veronica B., Nichole L., and Lisette at the reception and at Shelton Late Nite when Abdullah joined us.
- Jamba Juice, Mafia, and squirrels.
- The big dinner table at Myles with hosts, guests, and some of my Spanish House friends. Brian’s ways of getting back at me while he had to be silent. Bruk’s 3 questions for me about anything.
- Jammin Thursday. Then the Friday dance party with hosts, guests, and Gretchen and Andrew B.

- The lunch with Kimrey in Warren when we put a “Reserved for Cute Girls” sign on the table next to us lol.

- Apartment hunting with Paul T., with the help of Ulrich, our real estate agent. (Let me know if you would like his services! For real estate, that is.)

- Watching the Boston Marathon with Gretchen!
- Walking to Copley to see the finish line.
- Rooting for Oscar and Dr. Bob.. haha. The two guys dressed up as red beer cups.
- Seeing my friend Eve running!

- The BU Pub with Pat and his six awesome lady friends. Senior talk. The blinking version of Mafia.

- Spontaneous midnight soccer with Marisa, Sarah W., Stephanie S., Ankita, and Nishita!!
- Bike-riding with Giselle and Abdullah. “Showering” at the sprinklers.

- Trying to keep in touch with Kayla Celeste, Erin M., Amy S., Titi, and Katie K. while they were abroad! (And I’m still looking forward to the next time I’ll see them!)

— Nom Nom Nom —

- Chinese New Year’s Eve at Shanghai Gate with Yue, Will F., Lily, Hyesung, Giselle, and Matt R.

- Homemade pasta, pizza, and mozzarella sticks at Matt R.’s place with Giselle, Afra, Paul T., and Liz K.

- Shabu Shabu hotpot restaurant with Yue, Giselle, Nayeli, Tucker, and Patrick

- Fin’s Japanese Restaurant with Chang.

- Ghetto dinners with Vaughn, Janella, Karen Z., Eliza, Mia, and others.

- Myles dinners and lunches with Laura Anne, Magie, Francis, Wei, Christian A., Maria P., Sophia, Anthia, and others.

- Unplanned dinners and chats with Lamies!

— My Courses this Semester —

COM FT 554 E1: Films of Yasujiro Ozu, with Prof. Ray Carney

- All of Prof. Carney’s inspirational tidbits for artists, based on all his famous books, essays, and articles.

CAS PS 367 A1: Industrial-Organizational Psychology, with Prof. Perlitsh

- Being the supervisor of the most awesome work team in the “organization.” Our group drawing!

- The marshmallow and snack jokes Steve and I had with the professor on the first day of organizational socialization.

CAS HI 102 A1: Emerging Modern Europe, with Prof. Backman

- My office hour chat with the TA Kathryn about the challenges and rewards of teaching.

CAS LC 112 E1: Second Semester Chinese, with Chen Laoshi and Tadd Laoshi

- Sarah A.’s hilarious comments throughout the semester! Our xiao gou jokes.

- The “Your mama” jokes that our teacher Tadd Laoshi encouraged in the oral drill session.

- Trying to memorize a 4-page freshly written script in an hour with Sarah A. lol.

SED SE 534 A1: Classroom Management for Special Education, with Kevin Koziol

- Kevin’s cheesy jokes!

- My group project with Shara and Noah.

CAS PS 572 A1: Psychology of Women, with Prof. Costos

- Giving the guy perspective on topics related to gender socialization, relationships, and media images of women.

- My encore role-play performance of Bruce the misogynist.

— Special Thanks Throughout the Four Years —

- All my professors and teachers for all the things they’ve taught me not only about academics but about life, growth, and meaning.

- My RAs: Chris, Nicolae, Aisha, Adanta, and Johnny.

- The coordinators of the Admissions Day and Overnight Program from my sophomore year until this year. This year’s: Seth, Eve, and Freddy. Thanks for recognizing all my contributions throughout the past 3 years at the closing party!

- The Chinese Students Association E-board (including Erika L. and Angela C.) for all the Chinese cultural events.

- The Alianza Latina E-board (including Francesca and Sandy O.) for all the Latino events and dance parties.

- My fellow E-board members of BU Juggling for helping to run such a smooth club the past 2 years.

- Everyone at The English High School during my media arts teaching internship this year.
- Mr. Rozas for being a great role model of a media teacher.
- All my students (including Anis, Gerardo, Philip, Natalie, Giselle S., and Kev) for indirectly teaching me about what works and what doesn’t work in guiding and building their interests in self-expression, their competency in media arts, and their confidence in their strengths.

— Superlatives Throughout the Four Years: Faculty —

Favorite professors:
- Prof. Burak (COM201)
- Ms. McHugh (Creative Writing)
- Prof. Cavalieri (Video Production)
- Prof. Donley (Writing)
- Prof. Hall (Film Criticism)
- Jan Egleson (Film Directing)
- Frank Capria (Video Post-Production)
- Prof. Costos (Social Psych Experimental; Psych of Women)
- Prof. Bernstein (Scandinavian Cinema; Porn Studies.. yes, really)
– Prof. Perlitsh (Industrial-Organizational Psych)
- Prof. Carney (Art and the Films of Ozu)

Smartest and most inspirational professor:
- Prof. Carney

Funniest professor (and possibly funniest person):
- Frank Capria

Favorite professors to keep in touch with:
- Prof. Donley
- Prof. Hall
- Prof. Costos

Favorite security guard:
- Terry (Myles on Sunday afternoons)

Favorite dining hall worker:
- Enoch (Warren Towers omelette guy)

Favorite janitor:
- John (Sleeper Hall a few years ago)

— Superlatives Throughout the Four Years: Other —

Favorite places to relax:
- bookstores: BU’s Barnes & Noble and the Borders on Boylston St.
- my bed

Favorite places to study:
- the dining hall
- my bed

Favorite places to hang out:
- just the typical dinner in a dining hall (I think the amount of fun you can have during a meal interaction is underestimated)
- the Spanish House (especially Katie, Gretchen, and Kimrey’s room.. and ESPECIALLY when they try to kick me out at 2 am.. lol)
- the FitRec for soccer (that was only when I lived at West)
- Myles Bradford Lounge for board games
- the BU Beach for juggling
- my bed

Favorite places to dance:
- Mambos for salsa/merengue
- MIT salsa socials
- Ned Devine’s Irish Pub and Club (Carolyn’s birthday!)
- Alianza Latina’s dance parties
- on the street!!

Favorite walking routes:
- the Esplanade
- Newbury Street
- the Harvard Bridge aka the Mass Ave Bridge

Favorite famous people I met:
- Barack Obama!! (I was 2 inches away from him)
- Phillip Lopate (writer, essayist, and critic).. he was hilarious in a film critic panel discussion
- Elie Wiesel (Holocaust survivor, Nobel Peace Prize winner, author of “Night”)
- Jason Alexander (Seinfeld)
- Frank McCourt (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Angela’s Ashes”)

Procrastination at its best:
- 10-page paper written in 3.5 hours about a book I skimmed (and I got an A-)
- 3-page paper written in 1.5 hours for a 500-level class with some grad students (and the professor made me read it to the whole class after giving me an A)
- 42-page partner paper written in 17 hours from 8 pm one day to 3 pm the next with one bathroom break and one 2.5 hour class to attend during that time (about 27 pages were newly written; 15 were heavily revised from old drafts) (we got an A-/B+)

Favorite film projects:
- “Ms. Boston University” BUTV series with Al, James Phillips, Amanda D., other crew, and the 12 personable, charismatic, gorgeous, and fun contestants
- “Forgive Us Our Trespasses” – short film with Garytt, Johnna, Jon H., and all our amazing actors
- “Juggling 1 2 3″ – my editing project for a 500-level post-production class.. just because the prof gave me an A- without knowing I shot it on a 3.2 MP digital camera’s video mode and edited it on Windows MovieMaker
- “Pierced” – my two-actor film about sexual tensions; starring Kelley and Jim R. (thanks again for all your help!)

Favorite writing projects:
- “My High School Through Lemons”: my memoir about my underprivileged high school. I was one of 4 out of 400 students to be chosen to read a memoir at the Coffeehouse Reading for the next semester’s COM201 students.
- How to Spell College (http://howtospellcollege.com): my blog for practical college advice presented in a hip and humorous style; it’s semi-famous on college discussion boards.
- Once We Live (http://oncewelive.com): my newly launched blog for inspirations in peace, love, and happiness. Thank you sooo much for all your words of encouragement whenever I cross-post entries on Facebook notes!

— Superlatives Throughout the Four Years: Friends —

Favorite people to bump into:
- Pat U. (especially nowadays when I rarely see him!)
- Bianey R. (the friendliest person in Myles!!)
- Brandon P. (because it’s always when he’s headed to the gym or when he’s in Myles visiting anyone but me)

Most social and outgoing / Knows everyone:
- Andrew J.
- Pat U.
- Justin W.
- Titi
- Francesca
- Jacqueline L.
- Sid E.
- Brandon P.

Has done the most for BU:
- Sid and Bruna for promoting understanding and tolerance through Hug Don’t Hate
- Lauren S. for leading BU’s chapter of UNICEF
- Hakim for pushing for a more diverse campus through the Admissions Student Diversity Board
- Noah W. for all his community service work
- Pat U. just for being super-friendly to everyone, getting people to interact, and all the small but meaningful things that resumes can’t capture

Best senses of humor:
- Carolyn G.
- Mike C.
- Brian B.
- Abdullah
- Aziz Alawadhi
- Teja

Best cooks:
- Matt R. (pasta, pizza, and mozzarella sticks)
- Conrad (baked goods!)

Best athletes:
- My friends on the men’s soccer team: Sammy A., Jin, Petur, Jon J., Jason L., Temi
- Basketball: Ibrahim K.

Most artistic:
- Kristin W. (visual arts)
- Laura P. (visual arts)
- Ariana A. (photography)
- Josh M. (photography)
- Giselle (photography)
- Jude (music)
- David G. (theater)
- Sandy S. (writing/poetry)

Best dancers:
- Paul T. (standard ballroom. have you seen the awards he’s won?)
- Gretchen (salsa, swing)
- Diego (salsa)
- Xavier N. (salsa)
- Dana S. (ballet)
- Kelley (Irish step dancing)
- Connie (hip hop)

Favorite people to discuss academics with:
- Becca (anything)
- Marisa (women’s studies)
- Afra (anything)
- Alex G. (film and art)
- Chang (film)
- Kelly G. (theater)
- Francisco S. (philosophy)

Most entertaining classmates:
- Sarah A. in Chinese class!! (”An Shanran”.. hahaha)
- Jon H.

Favorite people to eat with:
- Giselle!! (because she takes her time even more than I do)
- Miguel (oh how I miss weekend “breakfasts” with you at 4 pm)
- Hyesung (especially because of our talks during meals)

Favorite people to hug:
- Laura Anne and Allie!!
- Sid (of course.. he’s the founder and President of Hug Don’t Hate)
- Carolyn G.

Weirdest ways I met friends:
- She killed me in a game of Assassins organized by the Myles RHA. (Sarah W.)
- She slammed a door in my face. (Kaitlin C.)
- I found her wallet. (Kerry E.)
- I offered to help open her mailbox.. and then I ran away with her care package. (Laura Anne)

— The Final Farewell —

All of you were tagged in this note because regardless of how often I saw you this semester, you were still a very special part of my whole BU experience at one point or another—whether I met you at orientation or in the past few weeks. It’s not about how many times you can find your name in any of my memories notes, how many times we hung out, or how many times I even bumped into you. It’s about how big of an impression you’ve left on me.