1. Utter Dread in the face of the Death of Summer.
Every day when I walked into my house, I headed straight for my couch and collapsed into the cushions. The imminence of a cramped dorm room was not greeted warmly. Also, I had to abandon my dog, a true tragedy. Oh yeah, and my family. I love them almost as much as my dog. (Just kidding, Mom.)
2. The Disgusting Emotionality of Goodbyes.
Ugh. Blech. Emotions can be overwhelming, and saying goodbye is a particularly horrid example of the excessive extent to which emotions are subjected to turmoil and sadness.
3. Anarchy Strikes.
This particular form of anarchy takes the form of a couple of suitcases, that absolutely will not fit all my clothes. I would’ve found it much more comforting to crawl into the suitcase myself and resort to the fetal position. Also, how can these clothes take up this much space? When did I get so many clothes? (I like to ask myself life’s important questions.)
4. The Packing Mule. (Pun Intended.)
The pain of lugging over 100 pounds of suitcase, a tote bag, and a duffel stuffed to the brim with a heavy laptop is unbearable. It’s almost as unbearable as doing any of the million other things in the world that are, in fact, way harder than what I did and that render my complaining a bit ridiculous.
5. Forgetting your ID.
After a summer of hanging out with my dog and petting my family (oh wait, I think it was the other way around), I forgot that I am, occasionally and despite my protesting, an adult. This means that packing my wallet and ID in the car not carrying my mom and I, on our way to pick up my key, was not a proud moment of mine.
6. Being the One to Answer Questions Instead of Asking them!
This was a fun moment. It was quite pleasing to be able to help all the new incoming freshman (newbs) figure out where they were going.
7. Going Up and Down Stairs until I felt like I was Training for the Olympics.
After carrying heavy boxes up 5 flights of stairs to Brown 216, I’m obviously all ready for Olympic weightlifting. Someone, please get me a sponsor for Tokyo 2020. All I can say is that judging from how sore I was the couple days after, please send your thoughts to those poor souls on the third floor.
8. Climbing a Mountain with the Weight of a Small Cow.
If you’ve never tried to carry a mini fridge up to the second floor, I highly recommend it. It’s a transformative experience. Everything after that will seem as light as air.
9. The Cocktail of Different Opinions Swirling Around Concerning, “How’s the room?”
The big windows are picturesque. The narrow rectangular space is “Ehh - Not great.” The closet space conjures forth a “Drat.” And the lack of hardwood floors (even though the records listed our room has having wooden floors, and even though if you know me, you know I’ve ranted many a time about the horrors of this already): results in a groan. My new room may receive mixed reviews, but overall it’s a hearty 8/10.
10. The Peaceful but Unproductive Lull of “I’ll fix that later.”
The relief of seeing all the boxes and suitcases finally inside my dorm was incredible. What followed was overwhelming fatigue and lack of enthusiasm in the face of actually moving anything, like ever.
11. The Inevitable Panic.
This laziness shall pass. Once I realized the week was slipping by and that my roommate might just want a bed to lie on, sans all of my junk, was enough to make me actually care about not freely letting my stuff explode over the entirety of the small dorm.
12. Resulting Motivation that Comes and Goes as it Pleases.
This panic made me get up off of my cozy bed and organize my closet. Unfortunately, laziness and a really busy week struck hard in counterattack and thus I report that not much besides my closet resembles a livable space at this point in time.
13. What, almost oddly mantra-like, have formed into my Four Main Stressors of this Weekend:
Food, Shopping, Laundry, Bed.
One. I began plotting like a survivor stranded on a desert island when I realized that there will be a total of five meals in between Pre-Orientation and the start of my meal plan. I don’t know how long I can manage without sustenance and with a stubborn resistance in the face of having to spend money on food (the horror!) I will send a letter in a bottle with an update…if I make it that far.
Two. The realization that I need to go out and buy important things, such as soap, tissues, and floss, was sudden. The need to “adult” can be surprisingly frequent, it turns out. Who knew?
Three. I have also reached a predicament in my lack of quarters. I shall soon be desperate for clean clothes and I currently have no appropriate funds to contribute to Big Brother and the other tax overlords charging $1.50 for laundry.
Four. if you have been lucky enough to avoid this horror, you won’t know that attempting to get ORS to loft your bed, and in your preferred – albeit pretty darn specific – location is one of the most trying experiences of moving in.
14. I Still Feel Fishy Enough to Be a Freshman.
Let’s face it; I forgot where ORS is, I don’t remember the hours of the Writing Center, (if anyone should, it’s me, right?) and I’ve never actually been to OIT. I’m still at least half-newb.
15. However, I Have Managed to Grapple with a Slightly Better Understanding of How to Operate Around Here.
I may be the peanut butter and jelly between the incoming freshmen and the juniors and seniors, in this metaphorical sandwich I’ve concocted, but at least I can rattle off totally valid answers to a long list of questions from 14 Pre-Orientation Students.
After a long week of almost-not-quite-sort-of moving in for my second year in college, I conclude that this round was generally less enthralling than the first, and I look forward to the day (hopefully sometime this semester) when I can crawl into a bed in a fully furnished dorm room.
