The spring at Carolina is unlike anywhere I’ve ever seen. Everywhere you look, the trees are full of new life, exploding with multi color blossoms and the students buzzing through campus are consumed with the excitement of an approaching summer. The colors are more vibrant. The air is cleaner. And it hasn’t yet gotten hot enough to remind you of how miserably humid and unpopular North Carolina summers are.
For graduating seniors, this time is a nostalgic one. Unlike every year prior, this spring marks the end of what feels like a lifetime, but also just the blink of an eye, of your tenure at UNC. It’s exciting and terrifying, sad yet relieving. Now, as you approach the end, you feel the need to stop and take it all in every chance you get. When you walk through the quad to your Tuesday afternoon class, you feel almost moved by the people lounging on the grass, playing frisbee, or walking to the library to study. You experience a sense of belonging to this community of strangers more than you ever have before. You keep your friends close, and you try to experience every single moment in slow motion. And then next thing you know, you’re walking down the stage to receive your diploma, and you’re off.
I know this because I, too, experienced it. So of course — what do we do when we want to preserve a particular feeling or a moment forever? Photograph it.
Lillian Grace Mercho 