Probably for forever. I don’t see myself ever living here again. Sure, I’ll come back and visit, come to the All-Gaucho Reunion and sorority alumnae weekends, but that’s just not the same as living in this kooky little beachside party town. I’ve spent four years in Santa Barbara, one of them in the dorms and the other three in Isla Vista. I’ve lived in two crappy apartments and two beautiful ones. I’ve had six different sets of roommates (if you count the dorms) and most of them have been batshit crazy (but lovable). In my four years here I have grown in ways I never could have imagined on that grey day in April 2007, when at age 17, I decided that this was where I’d be going to college. I have become part of an incredible Jewish community that it breaks my heart to have to leave. I have helped found a chapter of my sorority, studied abroad, been an intern, met probably over 1000 people. I have developed friendships with my professors, written hundreds of pages of creative writing and almost as much criticism, learned how to make an omelet, hated my roommates, loved my roommates, drank more than is healthy, eaten a few too many late-night Freebirds nachos, and made some of the best friends I will ever, ever have.

Goodbye, Isla Vista, UCSB, Santa Barbara. I will miss you like hell, probably more than I really know. <3 Gaucho for life.