WeekEND

Last weekend, I went to college.

Well, an admitted students' weekend. The not-so-little visitor's badge I had remains one of the few tangible tokens of the surreal experience. I don't think I've gotten over the fact that I was accepted, and sitting in an auditorium with the largest amount of teenagers I've ever seen in one place was slightly frightening. I'm only used to about 50 of them at a time -- my little not-even-5-foot self was overwhelmed.

I stayed with a senior chemistry-biology double major in a women's living group outside of campus. It was a homey place with a restaurant-quality kitchen and a giant teddy bear. Even though she had a physics problem set to do, my host took the time to talk to me about her day and life, and so did her wonderful roommate. There were plenty of wacky events to do all around campus, but I didn't really participate in too many of them (the wackiest thing I did was participate in a Sporcle tournament on the last morning-- guess who knew the names of all the Shakespeare's plays that started with the letter "M?" [that was a proud moment, and made up significantly for the fact that I forgot the capital of my own state]). 

I spent most of my time talking with people, an activity encouraged by the friendly dinners that the living group cooked every night. Just at dinner alone, there were so many amazing people! I met a French exchange student (and she said I pronounced her name kind of correctly), a materials science major who heard my "What to do you want to study?" answer ten times because I hung out in the dining room for three hours as other prefrosh went in and out, an Earth and Planetary Sciences major who helped me make origami earrings, a computer science major with cute Pokémon stickers on her laptop who told me about her prom in a science museum,  a quiet girl with a (stuffed animal) sheep named Cauli who asserted that biology is "very qualitative", and many, many excellent cooks! They were all different, and helped me understand what life at my favorite college was really like, aside from excitement and wacky events -- the not-so-fun stuff as well as the amazing stuff .

Outside of the living group, I went to a  women's leadership tea event, with dainty little desserts on fancy platters. There I met a bioengineering major whose family lived right outside campus, and who did some really cool work for an organization called GlobeMed. She was also kind enough to walk me where I needed to go the next morning, since walking alone is not something I enjoy, especially in a new place with many corridors and bustling crowds. Two nights prior (my first night), I had walked back to the group building in the dark, a trip made less scary by the company of another student, who commended my attitude towards safety when asked her to accompany me. One of the best "events" I  went to was a genetics class. I was actually able to follow along, and a student shared her handout with me. (They were starting a new unit on population genetics, and the good old Hardy-Weinberg equation). After meeting students, and  being welcomed by them , I am glad to know that I can count on people and feel safe, especially since going to college will be the farthest I have been from home in the last 10 years.

 Meeting everyone was exciting, and I made so many friends, but while talking to people about interests, school, life, television, and other things, the fact that I will be leaving a part of myself behind to go to college began to sink in. I've lived in the same place my entire life, and I will lose the comfort of my hometown when I go to college. Of course, everyone has to go someplace new sometime -- and the excitement and anticipation of starting anew is one that I treasure.