Monday, April 25, 2011

You've got a friend in me

“Friends are people who know you, but like you anyway.” In the second part of my reflection series, I want to examine the social aspect of my college experience.
            In my first year, I had to make new friends for the first time in my life. And I am not kidding. I went to the same school as my two best friends for 13 years, so I never really had to forge out into the friendship seas by myself. I always had them to help me meet people and learn to love new people.
When I moved across the country without either of them, I was frightened and exhilarated. I got to be anyone I wanted without my friends there exposing all my secrets. I got to be a new friend who people discovered for themselves.
My first friend was my roommate, Niki. We drifted apart, but I certainly owe a lot to her. Without her, I would be eating meals by myself. She helped me to make friends with others and break out of my introvert shell.
One of my first memories of Niki is from the first night we moved in. We talked about the basics of our lives and showed each other pictures of those we loved back home. I was discovering a new person. I will always cherish that memory as the scariest and most thrilling night of the beginning of this journey.
Thinking about how I met my now best friends is like watching the beginning of a very familiar movie. Beginnings aren’t always exciting, but they are important. And I’ve learned that fate has an interesting effect on those beginnings we so often overlook.
In the first hall meeting, a sheet went around for us to put our names, our birthdays and our favorite candies on. I was one of the last people to get the sheet. As I scanned all the names and candies, I thought, “My future best friend could be in this very room.” Then one name caught my attention. Chelsea’s name was written in big loopy handwriting and her favorite candy was gummy bears, just like mine. I knew I had to meet her, and what do you know, I did. She is now one of my best friends.
My neighbor and future roommate, Kait, joined us shortly later to make an incredible friendship. Together we laugh, get mad and do all the things friends should do.
Along with Kait, Chelsea and Chelsea’s roommate, Laura, and her two friends, Jamie and Eugenia, we formed a good group of friends.
This past weekend I went to Chelsea’s with Kait. The three of us looked forward to meeting and seeing everything about Chelsea’s life that makes her who she is. One of her friends was surprised we knew so much about her life. But that’s what friends are. They know everything about you, and like you anyway.
We have also found it easier to talk freely about things in our lives. I told Chelsea and Kait that because my friends from home come from nearly identical backgrounds as me and I grew up with them, I never get to hear their life stories in their own words. I love hearing stories about Chelsea’s and Kait’s families, friends and memories from life because that is my way of learning about who they are.
So my social life wasn’t as cliché as a college comedy flick because I only went to three parties, but I don’t care.
The friends I made helped me to have a great first year. They taught me a lot about myself, but more importantly they shared their lives with me, and I am so grateful.


            

Sunday, April 17, 2011

ABC...123

Aside from the social stigmas of college, when all said and done, college is about the things we learn in the classroom. The academics are a big part of why we choose the schools we do. Because in the end, that degree is what we are here for. We are just lucky enough to gain so much more.
            Now that I have finished my first year of college academics, I can attest to whatever clichés high school teachers tell their students to scare them. I used to be the high school student so scared by the “college is going to be a lot harder,” talk from my teachers. But I guess I was well prepared, or maybe I chose a good major, because I didn’t find the academics much harder than some of my high school classes.
            Sure I had my challenges, but nothing I couldn’t handle. My first year was certainly a learning experience, especially in the classroom.
            I found my professors to be incredibly intelligent, hard working people who enjoy what they do. So in turn I enjoyed the courses I was taking.
            Of course I liked my journalism classes, but not because of the content. Actually the papers were my biggest challenge of the year. I loved my classes because I was learning from former and current journalists. My interpreting the day’s news professor can be watched on Boston’s nightly news as the investigative reporter. My journalism 1 professor wrote for The Wall Street Journal, Miami Herald, was an editor for The Hartford Courant and wrote a book about The New York Times coverage of the Holocaust during WWII.
            My history and psychology classes were interesting, and I learned something new.  My Black Popular Culture class was easy but incredibly fascinating.
            Now natural disasters sounds like an attractive class but think again. The lectures were quite boring even though the topic matter sounds exhilarating. But I am glad I took the class to get my science credit out of the way, and if I ever have to cover a natural disaster for the news, I will be knowledgeable enough to know what category of tornado can tear a roof off a house or level a building.
            And finally, I took my two math credits this year to get them out of the way. And for the first time since fourth grade I got an A. I actually somewhat enjoyed my math classes this year because of my clear and enthusiastic teachers. I won’t miss taking math by any means, but I’m glad Northeastern made it bearable for me.
            I am learning so much in college, but the things I came here to learn enriched my experience sevenfold. So I’m crossing my fingers for straight A’s again because that would simply be the cherry on top of my college academic sundae. 

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Facing My Fears

Today I did something I’ve been scared of all year. Now you might think I’m crazy or delusional when you hear what my fear is, but I can proudly say, I’ve conquered it.
            I am afraid to interview random people for anything I’m writing. I think it is scary to approach someone unknown to ask them a seemingly irrelevant question.
            And the crazy part…my major is journalism. I should have expected to have to do this at some point. I knew it was coming. So the question is why did I pick a career path where I knew I could not avoid that. The answer: I have no idea.
            In high school it was easy to interview random people because I knew everyone in my tiny school, and no one thought it strange when you asked them questions for the school newspaper.
            As an introvert, I find it difficult to easily make conversation with someone. I also fear bad attitudes from people who I approach. Earlier this year, when I would get stories that required random interviews, the people I talked to were unreceptive and gave terrible quotes.
            So when my last assignment for journalism was assigned, I panicked. The paper is to be a reaction piece with ten “person-on-the-street” interviews.
            What I found was not as scary as I thought it would be. I made sure to approach with a smile, a friendly greeting and the understanding that the interview wouldn’t take long. I got great responses from willing people.
            Am I still afraid of random interviews? Absolutely, but at least now I know they aren’t terribly scary. I faced my fears, challenged myself and came out unscathed and that much prouder of myself.
            My freshman year of college is quickly coming to a close. With one weekend left in the city, three days of classes left and two weeks until I go home, I am looking back at everything that has happened this year.
            In the next three weeks, I will be writing a three part series focusing on the different aspects of my year. So coming soon will be the first part examining my academic year.
            I’m learning so much this year, and facing my fears is just one thing I can say I accomplished with pride.  

Saturday, April 9, 2011

A Spring Awakening


Spring has finally arrived. It is 60 degrees and sunny today in Boston with the perfect spring breeze. The birds chirp, the skirts have come out of the bottom of the drawer from under all those sweaters, and the smiles have returned to the faces around me.
            I have always loved spring because it is not just a literal emergence from a cold, dark winter, but also a metaphorical rebirth of life and enthusiasm. That sentence of parallelism and rich vocabulary would have made my high school English teacher very happy. And it makes me happy too.
            Spring gives me the promise of a clean slate. I can start again with new motivation. I can have a new style, new opportunities and a new attitude. I am ready to forge through the busy springtime with my head held high, confident that I will finish my freshmen year of college strong.
            This weather and season makes me want to pick some flowers, go to a baseball game, run through a park, go for a hike and sing at the top of my lungs. The spring rain makes me want to splash through the puddles in my Wellies.
            Whether I do these things or not, I am ready to start anew and welcome the summer with all my heart.  

Friday, April 1, 2011

A Spring Slump


I’m finally starting to feel the stresses of college. Maybe it’s just this time of year when everything is starting to wrap up that everything gets crazy, but I am in a spring slump.
            With just four weeks left in the semester, I have to cram nine papers, two quizzes, four finals and packing up into my final moments as a college freshman. Not to mention registering for next fall’s classes, applying for housing with five other girls and finding a summer internship. 
            I am incredibly overwhelmed and stressed. As fast as I want the next four weeks to go, I know they will be over in the blink of an eye. Time flies even when you’re stressed.
            The past weeks have been wearing on me and with so much on the horizon I miss home more than I have all year. I’ve discovered there are three stages of homesickness.
            The first stage is when you unconsciously miss things about home. For instance, saying, “I miss eating Which Wich.” Missing the people you love and are used to seeing so frequently also comes with this stage.
Then comes the aching stage. This is when you ache right down to the bones to go home. You don’t voice how you are feeling because most of the time you feel fine, but then it hits you like a pile of bricks, and you just ache.
Next comes the full on melt down. Crying into the phone because you are sick of living with a roommate, you are sick of school, and you just want to go home where your mom can make your favorite dinner, and you can watch your favorite episode of Gilmore Girls.
Needless to say, I reached all three stages this year. I unconsciously missed my home state for the first semester and first half of second semester. Next I ached to go home, but with everything piling up, I reached melt down stage this week.
But I think I was pretty lucky to escape from the condition for so long. I knew the crying would come, and to be frank I thought it would be a lot sooner than April.
I guess I got lucky, but I’m pretty sure that the only cure for homesickness is home. So I can’t wait to get home to the gorgeous Colorado weather, no more of this snow in April nonsense, Boston. I can’t wait to not have a million things on my mind. I can’t wait to go home.
But don’t get me wrong. Just because I miss home doesn’t mean I hate it here. I’m just ready to free myself of stress and missing that place that makes me who I am.