Originally published on May 30, 2016
I experienced a lot of new things freshman year, and the
most significant one was definitely moving into a dorm and living there for
most of the year. Whenever I would come home for break, I never quite settled
into my room and usually just lived out of a suitcase or wore whatever I had
left in my drawers. Things would just be left in a corner or on my desk to take
care of later. Then came the end of the year. It was time to move out and
suddenly I realized just how much stuff I owned and had managed to cram into
the small dorm room.
The problem with that is somehow last summer when I cleaned
my room for the last time I did not take into account all the things that would
be coming back. Therefore, my closet is bursting, my floor is unseen, and I
have been trapped in quite a mess since I came back. It’s better than it was a
few days ago, but still needs a couple days’ work. This is a lesson to
everyone: get rid of things you did not use at school before you come home! I
am surprised at how much junk piled up in my rooms, both at school and at home,
over the year. Your priorities shift, it seems, when faced with school tasks as
opposed to the openness of summer.
Other things have been different, since I have been home for
four days now. I am home alone a lot, since my parents work and my brothers are
still in school, so I am in charge of my own schedule and have to make food –
not dissimilar from a Saturday at school. But instead of feeling the stress of
projects, I am currently sitting in my reading chair, looking out the window at
the green maple trees, listening to my dog bark, and trying to ignore the mess
of papers that surround me. I have a full kitchen to make food in, a dishwasher
to wash dishes, and pets to take care of. Instead of everyone rushing off to
classes after dinner, they go to sports; I sometimes forget my brothers are
still in school and have activities and places to be while I have nothing pressing. My weekend activities now
include visits to grandparents instead of the practice rooms.
There is something peaceful about being the only person in
your immediate vicinity, instead of knowing you are on a campus with many, many
people surrounding you. For an introvert like myself, these several days of
being completely alone has been much-needed and comfortable. I don’t hear car
alarms, sirens, or train whistles, just birds. No one is running through the
halls underneath me. It is as though the busyness of school was left behind on
campus and the peacefulness of summer and home took over.
The school year was fun, but I am glad to be home again.
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