We came to the Orient from many different places. (Boston, five miles outside of Boston, ten miles outside of Boston, Cambridge, extending all the way to Winchestah, Andovah and Pittsburgh, sure, and some other places.)

The Bowdoin that we knew was one of administrative crackdowns, arrays of muted faces wearing blue-light glasses trapped in rows of boxes on our dusty laptop screens and pairs of eyes peering over masks from six feet away to observe us sticking Q-tips inches up our nostrils.

After a disjointed freshman year, we searched for what the “true” Bowdoin was. Through Orient interviews and late nights spent in the O-House we collected snippets of the pre-Covid Bowdoin we had heard so much about. We relished the opportunity to walk down Maine Street and interview members of the Brunswick community.

When we returned to campus our sophomore year, the Orient granted us a sense of community and connection with upperclassmen that we lacked our first-year fall. We were enthralled by Gogurt races, “old time” reminiscing and the friendly sparring of the senior staff.

The seniors frequently pestered us to get meals as a grade, “make a groupchat,” “like each other … be friends,” they said. Though at first confused by their adamance, what we now realize is that they knew what it took to make this paper. They knew that the Orient relied on a team that loves each other. And after four years, we now know that, too.

This idea of the true Bowdoin evaded us for years—existing only as a memory for older students and an intangible idea for us as underclassmen. And yet, as we leave the O-House for the last time today, we are sure of one thing: We found the true Bowdoin, and it looks like a beautiful rickety house at 12 Cleaveland St., cramped tight with too many people. It’s a little too old and a little too ant-filled, but it is a home. A home filled with joy. A home filled with love. Our home.

This editorial represents the view of the Editorial Board, which is comprised of Andrew Cohen, Lucas Dufalla, Clara Jergins, Jane Olsen, Sam Pausman, Juliana Vandermark, Lucy Watson and Maggie Zhang.