By Harrison Leone
Managing Editor
My life was dominated by the specter of studying abroad for nearly a full calendar year. The process began with program selection, which was simple enough, but quickly got more complex as I waded into the murky waters of course verification, passport application and international background checks. I can clearly remember sitting in the conference room on the second floor of the Reilly Center, sweating over an all-Czech visa application, wondering with a fair amount of dread what I had gotten myself into. In the end, the paperwork was completed, the documents stamped, and, as any faithful Bona Venture reader knows, I completed my semester abroad with nary a hiccup.
As any student who goes abroad can tell you, your time in a foreign land flies by in what feels like a matter of hours. It certainly didn’t feel that way as it was happening, but in memory, the whole experience feels more like a fantastic fever dream than something that you actually did.
Now, as the calendar turns to September and the dawn breaks on a new semester, I am re-adjusting to life at St. Bonaventure. I have once again crossed the membrane of the Bona Bubble, settling back into its warm, vaguely cult-like embrace. The transition has, as one may expect, been trying at times.
One of the factors I weighed against going abroad for a semester was the Bonaventure moments that would pass me by in the months I was gone. In one short 14-week period, I missed the end of the men’s basketball season, the debauchery of house crawl and what I have been told was a Spring Weekend to remember. I now listen with jealousy as my friends regal me with inspiring tales of watching Jordan Gathers sink St. Louis in the Atlantic 10 tournament, the spectacle of an entire class stumbling down Union Street together and the presence of the Olean Police Department in the Village of St. Anthony. It seems a lot can happen in a mere three months, most of it influenced in some way by alcohol.
Coming back into Bonaventure class schedule has also proved more difficult than I would have imagined. Meeting for class only once a week in Europe seemed daunting at first, but it did have the benefit of a three day class week. In the first week back at SBU, I have had to consciously remind myself that Thursday and Friday classes still need attending. The upside of having a semester of only two and a half hours classes is that fifty minute classes seem to be over nearly before they begin.
Life back stateside has not been an uninterrupted spate of nervous readjustments, however. There are a slew of positives that come with being back at the school where I’ve spent much of the past three years. First of all, Wal-Mart is back in my life, which is a truly beautiful thing. I never would have thought that the convenience of a twenty-four hour supermarket would be one of the things I missed most about life in the United States, but it certainly was. Just knowing that there’s a supercenter with all my earthly needs a minute’s drive away is a strangely comforting feeling.
I also have a newfound appreciation for the convenience of St. Bonaventure’s campus. Before leaving, I had complained about the difficulties of getting to class on time, bemoaning the lack of student parking and having to swerve around families of woodchucks. I realize what a blessing it is to have a campus so small that it can be traversed end to end in under ten minutes. A semester of twenty minute train rides to get to class can really provide a fresh perspective on your morning commute.
And, of course, there are the culinary staples of our community. Czech food was, to be diplomatic, interesting, but heavier on the boar stew and potato dumplings than I would have normally preferred. I’m now surrounded by the familiar feasts of Beef-on-weck, RC wraps, and, most happily, wings. As anyone taking Clare Forum this semester knows, globalization is a powerful force, but it has yet to translate into a world where you can get quality chicken wings in any country.
It was heartening to see that the pace of progress did not abate while I was away, as the campus, despite declining enrollments, continues developing and improving. It’s hard to look at our lush new fields with the Bona Wolf freshly painted on the center of the turf and not feel a sense of Bonaventure pride. The plot of land formerly known as Bonaventure square has been torn up, although lamentably not to be the student living and shopping xanadu that has been promised to incoming freshmen for half a decade. Digital notice boards have cropped up in many buildings around the school, lending an atmosphere of modernity while also bearing resemblance to Orwellian telescreens. Most shockingly, the Robinson Hall facelift has transformed one of the most unpleasant buildings on campus into a gorgeous and inviting living community.
You can take the Bonnie out of St. Bonaventure, but you really can’t take St. Bonaventure out of the Bonnie. My time in foreign lands has taught me how much I value a comfortable and familiar setting. I am glad to be back in my niche of friars, Bills fans and black squirrels.
