Svea Jones is a student at Beloit College. They wrote this piece as part of Chris Fink's creative writing class in Spring 2025.
As I reach my final year at Beloit College, I find that I become more sentimental about the smaller things I once took for granted. I feel like a grandmother who knows she doesn’t have time left and spends her savings to buy a nifty camera.
As I bask under the glow of the moon, I say goodnight to Beloit College and capture what's left of simple times, through the friends I make, and the moments I snap through video and photos. As a new adult I still seek out the spontaneity of being young, but like the moon, gorging the night sky, it slowly fades to morning, It is a reminder that I’m no longer a small child.
Goodnight raccoons that fight in the backyard at night
Goodnight to the street lamps that keep the campus bright
Goodnight to Torti the turtle who lives in the school library
Goodnight to the Bon Appetit potatoes sticky with rosemary
Goodnight to Pablo Toral and Fred Burwell on their bike commutes
Goodnight to the blunt pouches and beer cans the wind pollutes
Goodnight to the ambient music and the silence in between
Goodnight to the wisping warm wind and the caffeine
Goodnight to the pregames, parties, and make-outs
Goodnight to the night walks, bell runs, and cookouts
Goodnight to the smiles of professors I once knew
Goodnight to the friends in our outstanding crew
Goodnight to the cigarette butts and red boa feathers
Goodnight to these things that keep me tethered
Goodnight doesn't mean goodbye, but it won't be easy to let go
Goodnight to the souls above and below.