Marching to the Beat of the Drum
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If you are reading this, thanks for visiting our blog :) We hope you are enjoying what you see!
I had a 3 hour chemistry lab today. I honestly thought it would be awful- and it kind of was. What redeemed it was the experience I had walking back to the train station with a lab partner.
He, being the college freshman he is, asked if I planned on staying at the U for my "real" schooling. I said that it depends but I would love to stay. As those words left my mouth, I realized how true they were. I was right by the statue at one end of the Scholar's Walk and as I was looking up at all the buildings around me, I noticed how familiar and comfortable my environment had become.
I had mentioned in my first post that I come from a small town. I still am, that wasn't a lie ;). I thought I would hate the cities. Don't get me wrong, I spent the majority of my childhood in the cities, but in recent years, I had gotten used to the slow, content, suburban MN lifestyle. Why in the world would I pay a bunch of money just to squeeze myself into a small space with several hundred other people when I could go elsewhere and enjoy having individualized attention? That was how the college websites always sold it anyhow. I told my mom that I was not going to the U. I was dead set against it and was considering several rural colleges with 1/3 the campus size and student body of the U. She told me that I might be surprised. I thought she was wrong...unsurprisingly, she wasn't.
Sure the beginning was awkward, it always is as some of you may know. Hopefully, most of you also know that it does get better. The first week or two you always feel out of place, like any other person walking down the street can just look at you and see that you don't belong. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: there is no single definition of who belongs and who doesn't. That's the wonderful thing about college, you can be yourself and still find people who won't judge. Take for example, the person who walks around in that T-Rex costume. You second year PSEOers know who I'm talking about. Back in high school, I know without a doubt that this person would've been ridiculed and probably kicked out for breaking the dress code. Here? We all look at the T-Rex wandering by and chuckle. College is magical like that. There is no judgement here (unless you don't like chocolate, then we really can't be friends ;).
Although, just because we are all free to be ourselves, it doesn't mean this campus is without unity. I still remember being picked up by my mom at one point last semester and she asked me if I had had the feeling of being part of a whole yet. I only looked out the window and smiled slightly at all the people passing by before saying yes. We are all so different but we are all similar nonetheless. Yes, even that chocolate-hater. We are all Homo sapiens inhabiting a planet that is shooting through space in a poorly drawn circle while appearing to be screaming to all other planets. That's right, we are in this embarrassment together.
The "feeling" you get when you find a place where you belong is hard to describe. It comes gradually, day by day, and presents itself in the oddest ways. I found mine in the after-class conversations, quirky professors, and walking through East Bank at 7:30 in the morning. At that time, the city is about as quiet as it gets. Sleepy students are shuffling to class and the maintenance workers are pulling in for the day. Everything seems to be clicking into place.
The magic "feeling" also comes from finally clicking with the cities itself. The very unique thing about the U is that it is integrated into the city. Whether or not you like that, you will find that there is a pulse in the day to day life. The city itself is alive and the sense of adventure and youth and newness is so strong that you can almost taste it. There is always a hum in the air that results from all the noises around us and I can't help but smile at the activity. We live in this moment, and this feeling of exhilaration and excitement is what it means to be alive.
I hope you all start marching to the beats of your own drum and take pride in it. It is only then that we can truly see how magnificent the melody of all these sounds can be.
Enjoy this picture I took this afternoon- the view is one of my favorites.
Also, here's a complimentary meme for you guys :)
~Tempest
P.S. As always, please leave us a comment!
If you are reading this, thanks for visiting our blog :) We hope you are enjoying what you see!
I had a 3 hour chemistry lab today. I honestly thought it would be awful- and it kind of was. What redeemed it was the experience I had walking back to the train station with a lab partner.
He, being the college freshman he is, asked if I planned on staying at the U for my "real" schooling. I said that it depends but I would love to stay. As those words left my mouth, I realized how true they were. I was right by the statue at one end of the Scholar's Walk and as I was looking up at all the buildings around me, I noticed how familiar and comfortable my environment had become.
I had mentioned in my first post that I come from a small town. I still am, that wasn't a lie ;). I thought I would hate the cities. Don't get me wrong, I spent the majority of my childhood in the cities, but in recent years, I had gotten used to the slow, content, suburban MN lifestyle. Why in the world would I pay a bunch of money just to squeeze myself into a small space with several hundred other people when I could go elsewhere and enjoy having individualized attention? That was how the college websites always sold it anyhow. I told my mom that I was not going to the U. I was dead set against it and was considering several rural colleges with 1/3 the campus size and student body of the U. She told me that I might be surprised. I thought she was wrong...unsurprisingly, she wasn't.
Sure the beginning was awkward, it always is as some of you may know. Hopefully, most of you also know that it does get better. The first week or two you always feel out of place, like any other person walking down the street can just look at you and see that you don't belong. I'm going to let you in on a little secret: there is no single definition of who belongs and who doesn't. That's the wonderful thing about college, you can be yourself and still find people who won't judge. Take for example, the person who walks around in that T-Rex costume. You second year PSEOers know who I'm talking about. Back in high school, I know without a doubt that this person would've been ridiculed and probably kicked out for breaking the dress code. Here? We all look at the T-Rex wandering by and chuckle. College is magical like that. There is no judgement here (unless you don't like chocolate, then we really can't be friends ;).
Although, just because we are all free to be ourselves, it doesn't mean this campus is without unity. I still remember being picked up by my mom at one point last semester and she asked me if I had had the feeling of being part of a whole yet. I only looked out the window and smiled slightly at all the people passing by before saying yes. We are all so different but we are all similar nonetheless. Yes, even that chocolate-hater. We are all Homo sapiens inhabiting a planet that is shooting through space in a poorly drawn circle while appearing to be screaming to all other planets. That's right, we are in this embarrassment together.
The "feeling" you get when you find a place where you belong is hard to describe. It comes gradually, day by day, and presents itself in the oddest ways. I found mine in the after-class conversations, quirky professors, and walking through East Bank at 7:30 in the morning. At that time, the city is about as quiet as it gets. Sleepy students are shuffling to class and the maintenance workers are pulling in for the day. Everything seems to be clicking into place.
The magic "feeling" also comes from finally clicking with the cities itself. The very unique thing about the U is that it is integrated into the city. Whether or not you like that, you will find that there is a pulse in the day to day life. The city itself is alive and the sense of adventure and youth and newness is so strong that you can almost taste it. There is always a hum in the air that results from all the noises around us and I can't help but smile at the activity. We live in this moment, and this feeling of exhilaration and excitement is what it means to be alive.
I hope you all start marching to the beats of your own drum and take pride in it. It is only then that we can truly see how magnificent the melody of all these sounds can be.
Enjoy this picture I took this afternoon- the view is one of my favorites.
Also, here's a complimentary meme for you guys :)
~Tempest
P.S. As always, please leave us a comment!
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