Twenty-three of my classmates have graduated. Yesterday, at the strategy final, was possibly one of the last times I'd see them. One of them has already left the area to return to her native country. It makes me unbelievably sad. I wasn't friends with all of these people, but I was on teams with a few of them, and we did share good times and hard times alike.

I remember seeing some of these people at 3 in the morning. We shared pizzas. We spotted each other money when someone was running short. We were there when something went disasterously, and we were there when things went beautifully. And unlike the outside world, we understood what it really meant to be a first year and what a struggle it was to get through each day; it's impossible to even put into words how much we needed each other even when we didn't necessarily like each other that much. But we always managed to get past the conflicts and the petty arguments to pull it together and get through. And now a fourth of the class - a fourth of the people who survived the first year - are gone.

I felt loss when I returned this fall and discovered that some of my classmates had not qualified to return for a second year. Those departures were so abrupt, as we had not been able to say good-bye and good luck to them, in whatever they tried for in the future. And now, another 23 people are gone. I suspect May will be more difficult when all but one of us from the class of 2003 will be leaving.

So long and good luck, friends. And keep in touch.