We have been on campus for a month and half. That is 52 days. Fifty-two days of getting adjusted, of going to class, of getting drunk, of being free. We have been on campus for 52 days and it took those 52 days for me, a new and naïve Skidmore student to become rooted into the community. It was not easy and I did not notice it, at first. I woke up last Sunday morning; I was groggy and confused, with a slight something pounding on my frontal lobe. I woke up and realized that this feeling was not new. It was uncomfortably familiar. I had entered a routine and had not even realized it.
I do not like routines. I never have and don’t think I ever will. I like new and fun and exciting. That is why I loved the beginning of college. I walked on campus bright-eyed and bushy tailed: the entire freshman class did. As we moved into our new bedrooms, our new homes, we felt surges of anxiety and excitement while our minds wandered with possibilities of the future. We could not stop guessing and hypothesizing and wondering what was coming. At least, I could not.
The campus gleamed and glittered; everything shone, everyone shined. Dhall was a magical place of unlimited, good hearty food and the Case green was what every college brochure tried to portray: frisbee throwing, music playing, and smiling faces galore. Every time I stepped out of Howe, it became a mini adventure; I never knew what I was going to encounter. My mind was in constant motion, tirelessly trying to fit every face to a name and a name to a building. And it was perfect. Classes were perfect, even if they were not. People were perfect, even if they were not. You could not wipe the smile off my face.
But as I start the 53rd day, the steady façade of Skidmore is starting to fade. This is not to say Skidmore is not an amazing place, with amazing people. It is and I believe that whole-heartedly. But, instead of summer camp, it is becoming real life. We are getting grades, parents are visiting and there is an overwhelming pressure to start figuring things out. Questions are being asked and we are expected to have answers, answers we never needed before. The honeymoon phase of college has ended.
The timeline is different for everyone. It might have only taken two weeks or it might take you the whole year, but at one point or another, whether you are aware of it or not, Skidmore will hit you. It will never stop being a beautiful campus with intelligent people everywhere you turn, but it will stop being new and start becoming home. It is an adjustment to say the least. One I did not want to make and now, could not be more thankful I did. That Sunday afternoon was rough. To wake up and realize that you have not even commenced is terrifying. But, it is the truth. I have not started; we, as the classes of the 2012-2013 school year have not even begun to experience what this year has to offer. Day 54, here we come!