My time at Southern Methodist University will not be defined by centennial celebrations, by perfectly manicured lawns or the number of fountains that dot the campus. I will not think about my various roles in student media or the stories and shows I have helped produce. What will matter are all of the relationships I have developed in the last three and a half years.

First, there is the J-School and my co-inhabitants there. I say inhabitants because we have all slept in that building too many times to count, or at least the best of us have. On any given weekday you can walk in there and be met by friendly, if not tired, faces. And thankfully all of our professors like to stay in the mix. One in particular has been and always will be my idol, mentor and close friend.

The J-School has seen me at my best and worst. I have probably never cried, yelled or laughed as much as I have there. Even when I thought my life was falling apart, I found a ray of sunshine there to lift my spirits. The J-School is home.

It is always hard to explain my medievalist friends. We are actually a cult that worships a pair of professors who know everything. We get frustrated with inaccurate representations of history and we think the Renaissance is lame.

We traveled to central Spain, stayed in a cardinal’s palace, studied a lot of column capitals and partied on a castle’s walls. We also rowed some boats.

The medievalists are the people you want to be with when you are tired of the SMU scene and would rather stimulate your mind than destroy it.

Of course, there is everyone else. The friends who do not share academic purists with me but still manage to tolerate my obsessions. Since freshman year they have understood that my schedule is irregular and that I am always running around.

Everyone needs friends you can just sit with and talk about nothing, and these are mine. I need them to keep me sane and to remind me that life is good.

Over the years I have not stayed close with all of them but in the end they have each helped shape me into who I am today.

I could not talk about the relationships I have developed at SMU without mentioning my family. When I started college I was not a good son or brother, but I think I am better now. The most important thing I have learned at SMU is how much I love them.

Dan, I hope you will enjoy the relationships you develop at SMU as much as the ones I have.

Garcia is a senior majoring in journalism.