Class of 2020: Anissa Lujan

To my dear friend Anissa,

I am happy that I was able to meet you at the beginning of our journey through college. Had we never been in MASP, we might have never met and thus, I am grateful that we both were a part of MASP.

Throughout our four years together, you have been what I view as the textbook definition of a true friend. You have been caring, supportive, receptive, endearing and so much more. You have always been a pillar of strength in whatever obstacles you have faced and that has always helped guide me through difficult times as a student of color on campus. You’ve also always been willing to hear out my problems whenever I came to you. Regardless of what things you had going on, you always made time for your friends and were always willing to provide advice based off of your own experiences. I always valued your input and appreciated anything and everything you offered.

Campus was not always a safe place for us, especially since we were both students from underprivileged backgrounds. However, I always felt safe whenever you were around. If anyone ever asked me who the strongest person on campus was, I would immediately respond with your name. Both in terms of raw physical strength and confidence, you truly were the strongest and you made it known as you were never afraid to get into a tussle. I always loved hearing your epic stories of confrontation from high school and these stories only made me respect you more (and made me somewhat terrified of what you would do to me if I ever got on your bad side lol). I think the story that stuck with me was how your manager dared you to kick them in the face since they did not believe you could. You roundhouse kicked them in the face and they were left in a state of shock. I never saw this event happen, but I still have a vivid description every time I think of it. In general, however, I always felt safe knowing you had my back and I am grateful for that.

I think my fondest memory of our time together was during the Halloween party you threw in 2019. I will admit, I did feel a little out of place as I had never really dressed up for Halloween nor had I ever gone to a costume party. But you were definitely in your element. You put everyone to shame with your iconic dance moves and really let everyone know who’s house it was. The thing I remember most from that night was when I went to sit on the stairs, alone. I do not recall why I was not with everyone else, but I chose to sit away from everyone else for some time. Despite your place being filled with some of your closest friends, you came and sat with me and you asked how I was feeling. This memory means so much to me because you could have spoken with anyone that night or continued dancing on the dance floor and yet you came and talked with me, despite me being so far from everyone else. This speaks volumes to your character and really encapsulates why I value you so much as a friend.

I know that our time at CU is coming to an end, but I know you will do great things wherever you are. I wish you good luck and good fortune on your journey through graduate school and hope that you remember us all when you become an established name in fiction writing. I hope that we are able to continue being great friends as I believe we have been throughout college.

Your friend,
Abdur