As our time at Ryerson Hillel comes to an end, we started to reminisce on the days spent laughing with our friends and the nights spent pondering our future. All those beautiful thoughts quickly became overshadowed on the ominous Friday the 13th when Ryerson announced it was closing. How fitting of a day to find out life as we knew it would flip upside down.

Sitting in our student building watching everyone scream excitedly at their phones, we were sad because we realized all our lasts had passed without us knowing. That past Monday was the last time our crew skipped to the bathroom together on break, the last bubble tea date with friends between classes, and the last time we sat on the swingless swings that squeezed our hips a little too tight. It was a scary feeling knowing that the longer we spent downtown, the more coronavirus could spread around us. Yet, how could we leave if it would be our last time on campus as Ryerson students? There’s so much we still didn’t get to do during our time and we knew that once we left, that was it.

Although we may never get to do any of these things again, we do get the chance now to reminisce about how fun they were. And as our good friend, Or, constantly quoted from Winnie the Pooh himself, “how lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

So, let’s be nostalgic and remember the good times spent with Hillel Ryerson:

Remember that time we got free Ben & Jerry’s on campus, or our party in second year when the weather channel put us on the giant screen in Yonge and Dundas square?

Remember the yearly multi-faith Shabbat dinners hosted by Ryerson when we got to socialize with all the higher ups of campus, or when we would laze around the loft while eating free lunches?

Remember that time when we listened to Geoff belt Pocahontas in Hebrew, or when we would pile up the bean bags next to the swings to create an American Ninja Warrior course? All of our Mario Kart and Just Dance competitions and of course, who could forget about working on Out of Sync for months and then having the time of our lives on stage as a team?

Looking back at our four years, it’s crazy to think how many changes we’ve had in our staff from 2016-2020. However, each group of staff brought a unique element to Hillel Ryerson that ended up making each year amazing. So we’d like to thank Allysa, Or, Emily G., Tehila, Emily C., Elyse, Leore, Einav, Mitchell, and Ashira for all the hard work they each put into making Hillel Ryerson the best.

To the various exec teams we’ve been a part of, thank you for being such an awesome group of people to spend the years planning and executing events with. You all became more than just team members to us and we know that our friendships with you all will last a lifetime.

With love,
Jess and Adina <3

Written by: Adina Saban and Jessica Kline