Finals are approaching and my first year of college is quickly coming to an end. As I sit on the first floor of the W.E.B. DuBois library, I observe tour group after tour group pass by and can’t help but think how I was in their shoes just a few short months ago.
My first visit to campus was an eye opener, for I couldn’t believe I was finally at this stage in my life. The size of the campus intimidated me and everyone looked so old. After walking around and taking it all in I began to be able to see myself here for the next four years. The summer flew by, as I knew it would, and I spent every waking moment with my hometown friends because we couldn’t imagine being separated. We already had a countdown until we would be reunited on Columbus Day weekend, and now we are just weeks away from coming together again for the entire summer.
It seems just like yesterday that I packed my car to the brim with Target’s Room Essentials items and just about every article of clothing and pair of shoes I owned. The long two hour car ride to school was filled with nervousness, excitement, and curiosity for I couldn’t wait to see where this new chapter in my life would take me.
When I first unlocked the door of my new dorm room I found four white cinderblock walls awaiting my arrival and I couldn’t imagine making this tiny area feel like home. Everything seemed so foreign and new; the hallways, my neighbors, it didn’t seem real.
After waiting hours for my belongings to be delivered to my room I quickly realized how much I had overpacked when I began to unload everything. I insisted on raising my bed as high as it could go, so my new under-the-bed storage could fit. To this day I regret this decision, as I need to get a running start to hop onto my bed. I filled my walls with pictures of my family and friends from home, hoping the photos would provide some sort of comfort for the adjustment I was about to make.
I unpacked my last duffel bag and then came the ever so dreaded moment, saying goodbye to my family. Tears were shed as this was the first time there would be no parental supervision and I could no longer walk into the next room if I wanted to gossip with my mom, drive around town with my dad, or make a quick trip to the local bagel shop with my sisters. It finally hit me that this tiny dorm on the tenth floor would be my new home for the next nine months, I was on my own now.
Having been the oldest, I never shared a room, so having a roommate in such close corners was different. But that extra person in the room made it feel like home. I’ll miss walking into the room after class to a smiling face, the extra closet when I’m frustrated with my wardrobe selection, the late night talks about boys and whatever other adventures we endeavored that night, and having a personal motivator when I’m are having a bad day.
As scary and hard as the adjustment was, freshman year flew by. Those girls down the hall that I was nervous to introduce myself to on the first night became my best friends, and knowing we will no longer be just a wall apart from each other over the summer makes me sad.
Homecoming, Halloweekend, Spring Break, the tailgates, and the “darty’s” have come and gone, and now I’m packing up my room and once again staring at those empty, white, cinderblock walls, except now behind that door is month’s of laughs, dance parties, and Polaroid pictures. I never thought I’d miss that small dorm room, but I know I’ll feel a pain of nostalgia when I walk past that building.
My first year of college was full of ups and downs and as fast as the time has passed, I wouldn’t change a single second of it. Thank you freshman year of college, for the friends, the life lessons, and the memories that will last a lifetime.
