We’ve been together for four years and known each other since my birth. It is by far the longest relationship I have ever had.

It all started out so innocent: football games on crisp fall afternoons, cherry pies at the Veishea parade.

Then, one sunny afternoon in the fall of 2007, I saw Iowa State through the wide, naive eyes of a high school senior and fell in love. My family certainly approved of the blossoming relationship and I knew that it just had to last.

The distance for those first few months was hard, but we made it through, and when we were reunited that fall, the bond was stronger than ever. Every day I walked around in the splendor of young love. Iowa State could do no wrong. I reveled in the pleasant fall days, the excitement of homecoming, the Hilton Magic.

That first semester came to an end, and I had made those first steps into growing up, though I had a long way to go. I declared my majors, picked myself up after a less-than-stellar grade report and dove into the spring semester.

A couple of years went by before we started having problems. The bureaucracy and competition started to get to me. I continued to see my fees and tuition rise while my classes were cut and professors let go. How could my lover have become so shallow? What happened to those days of exciting traditions and the integrity of education?

I suppose most relationships go through these stages. These bits of time where you question the very foundation of your feelings. The moments when you feel as if this place has broken you. But it always comes back to the same reasons you originally fell in love.

Looking back four years, I wonder if I’ve really grown any in this relationship. After all, I’m still as lost in terms of a career path as ever. But then I think about what Iowa State has given me. It has given me a reason to fight and find my voice. It has given me a reason to love and create. It has given me the ability to be a person with developed thoughts, feelings and opinions.

I relied on Iowa State in a way that I seldom like to admit. I needed that constant support, knowing that the idea of the inspiring place I came to four years ago was always there, even when we disagreed.

So maybe this stage of our relationship is over. On Friday, we will part ways saying, “Really, it’s not you, it’s me.” We’ll stay friends, I’m sure; I’ll come back to visit, and we’ll smile at the memories we had. I’ll move on, fall in love again, but know that we’ll always have Ames.

Throughout the course of the last year, I’ve sworn, yelled, debated and criticized a multitude of aspects of Iowa State University for you loyal readers of the Iowa State Daily. The fees are ridiculous, the politics are disgusting, the bureaucracy is infuriating … yet I still love it.

I love sitting on Central Campus on those first warm days of spring. I love cheering my heart out for the Cyclones whether they win or lose. I love Campaniling, avoiding the zodiac, Lake LaVerne and the plethora of other traditions we have. I love being able to talk to my parents about our shared adventures. I love the majestic old buildings. I love that even though everyone on this campus can’t agree on pink slime or LFTB or gun laws or birth control or politics or plastic bottles, at the end of the day we all have to agree that we are Cyclones. So that 20 years from now when we meet someone new, get to talking and find out we are both proud alums, we can share that pride and love of Iowa State.