That’s a Wrap!
It’s all in the title–I’m done! From struggling through classes I thought would be easy to acing parts of college that I thought I would struggle with, I learned a lot about being a Vanderbilt student. I’m already pumped to start my second semester, but I received sage advice from grandmother earlier: enjoy the break while you can. I think I’ll try that.
I know some of what I’ll be doing during break: playing video games, writing poems and stories, and sleeping (so much sleeping). I’m sure there will be plenty of chores to complete in between all those important goals I’ve set for myself; perhaps I can spare the time. Then I have to worry about selling my books and buying new ones, setting my courses in stone, planning, planning, and more planning. Blah. On second thought, how much relaxing am I actually going to get?
That’s my future, though, and I’ll have to be content to leave it there, at least for now. For the purpose of this article, I’ll just catch you up on what happened in the last few days.
I had my general chemistry final, which, surprise, was not very fun. All that *undisclosed material* and *undisclosed material* was so rough, but when it got to *undisclosed material*, I breathed a small sigh of relief. I fared well in the class, well enough as one majoring in English ought to fare in a chemistry class, I suppose. I’m just ready to delve more into my realm and show my GPA (and more importantly, myself) what I’m capable of!
Immediately following that unfortunate exam was a squad trip to Mellow Mushroom, one of our favored pizza places (yes, pizza). We talked the night away for an hour or two, ate some really good food, and then it was time to split, to return to the dorms and pack for the trip home.
Tada! That’s all that happened–well, minus a few details, but what’s a story if it isn’t missing some of the finer points?
Hence, I stowed away my belongings, awoke the next morning, and hit the road along with a bounty of other people, as I found out. Just like that, I’m 12.5% done with college.
What with the vast amounts of novice knowledge I now possess, I suppose I could elaborate on some myths and tales of the first-year experience, at least this half of it. First, “freshman fifteen” is real; it was for this skinny white guy, and from what I can observe, no one escapes it fully, not even the squirrels Like… I just got heavier. How? It must be in the water or something.
Weed-out classes are real and brutal. I doubt there is even much of a legend to dispel here. Surely, everyone knows of weed-outs, but I’m not sure it is common knowledge just how tough they can be. They will be difficult, unless you happen to be a superstar in that area. Don’t fret, though; you’ll have fun laughing off how stupidly hard they were, and then you’ll move on to the good stuff. I’ve already done the laughing, and I’m betting my upcoming classes will be a lot more interesting than what I just left.
Midnight swipes in Commons are a God-send. I came into college thinking I would have at least the self-control to eat consistently timed meals, yet I have had many feasts of pizza rolls and orange juice because, “Hey, what can my diet do to me that studying for exams isn’t?” It’s a wonderful life.
Those are just some of the most applicable quirks I can imagine now, but there are infinite intricacies to the flow of things on campus, especially within Commons. I feel blessed to be a part of this place on the good days, and it’s still inspiring even on the not-so-good ones. With that in mind, break is going to be weird. I’m enjoying the time off, but I already miss the struggle, the push for improving. A place like Vanderbilt will stir that feeling, and I’m ready for round two.