The dreaded day of departure had finally arrived; the 29th of July, also known as waterworks day. Most of us at Laval stayed up the whole night. After the amazing performances at the Open Day celebration the day before, we headed back to residence to spend our last night together. I went up to my room to pack my luggage. It was about 12:05 AM as my roommate and I simply dumped our clothes into our suitcases in a hurry. Soon there was a knock on our door and Valeria stood in the doorway with my monthbook. We rushed down to the dance room in the basement where most of the Shads were on the floor signing each others' monthbooks. It was an overwhelming experience having almost 50 people in one room scribbling their thoughts/feelings and yelling "IM DONE! DOES ANYONE HAVE ANOTHER MONTHBOOK!" What's more depressing was the fact that mostly slow songs were being played on the speakers. After a while some Shads simply could not take it anymore and had to go to bed. Others went to the laundry room to do laundry, while some went to the recreation room to play ping pong and sign monthbooks there. After writing in half of the books I was exhausted and did not want to write anymore. It was like writing an essay for most of us procrastinating Shads; up past midnight, drinking coffee too keep our drooping eyes wide open, the difference was that we wanted to write and had many emotions to share. My message to each person was unique because each of these wonderful people moved me in a special way. Before we knew it, the time was 6:00 AM and the first 2 people had to leave. Hugs all around, tears falling down; it was an emotional time for all. Soon after, some Shads called a cab and left because they could not deal with the emotions. I missed their departure as I went up to check if I had packed everything. I came downstairs and discovered that my cab which was supposed to arrive at 8 was rescheduled to pick me up at 9. I walked around trying to comfort those who were crying and I lied on the couch and took a short nap. I was suddenly woken up by Bryan (a program assistant) who asked for my keys and meal card and told me that the cab had arrived. I was dazed and thought that I was dreaming. I could not believe my Shad journey had actually come to an end as I hugged the sobbing Shads at the door. I was in the cab with Meagan, Midori and Judy, and as we drove in somewhat of a silence I realized that it was truly over, I was not dreaming. I had to accept that we would all never be in the same place at the same time ever again. It was time for me to pop my Shad bubble and enter back into the real world. We checked in at the airport, caught our flight and soon we were on our way back to Toronto. I was greeted at the airport by my parents whom I dearly love for sending me to Shad. I am extremely glad that I got to spend my month of July at Laval University with some of the most incredible youth in Canada. Thank you all at Laval (especially the staff) for enriching my Shad Valley experience and making it one of the most memorable months of my life. I miss you all already and wish you guys the best if luck in whatever you choose to pursue. Remember it is not good bye for us at Laval, it is au revoir (until we meet again).
Mervyn Mendonca, Shad Valley Université Laval'11
Hometown: Toronto, ON
