Spring Arrives at Carleton

Yes. I am still here.

It is strange, but kind of nice. Spring in Northfield is beautiful—a little rainy, hovering around freezing at night but warm when the sun hits your face just right in the late afternoon. A mostly empty campus is not something I am used to. I’ve never stayed at Carleton during a break before, and I’ve never stayed when I don’t know if and when people are coming back. But I don’t mind a new adventure.

I have a campus job for spring break, so that’s keeping me busy for eight hours a day. Last week we were still going into the office, but this week we’ve started working from home. “Home” for me is now my dorm, where all three of my roommates have left, so I’ve kept the desks all together and made a giant desk for myself. It’s where I’ve transformed my book shelves into a little pantry stocked with ramen and soy sauce and Hello Panda and instant tikka masala. My two remaining floormates have sort of become housemates in what feels like a rather large apartment, where we are still working on getting to know each other better but kindly allow each other to borrow can openers and fridge space.

Three weeks of spring break feels like a long time, and very little time all at once. It is odd that in less than a week, we will begin classes in a completely new learning environment, with classmates and professors who I will only see via webcam. It almost doesn’t feel real. Carleton’s doing a good job taking care of us, though. Even though the Libe and the Rec are closed, we are still provided food at Burton for brunch and dinner, and there will also be breakfast once classes start. The tables have been moved further apart to allow for social distancing, and the dining hall workers do an incredible job of making sure that we stay safe and healthy. The neighborhood beside Carleton is absolutely beautiful for a walk on a sunny afternoon, and the Arb is essentially a giant backyard.

It’s nice to see children and families outside these days. People staying healthy, getting their Vitamin D, taking advantage of the warm weather despite all that is happening in the world right now. Some flowers have started to sprout in front yards, and the magnolia trees by Sayles will begin to bloom soon. The trees remain bare, but there is so much life within them that will soon awaken. Spring is a time of change and hope, and I don’t let myself forget this. There’s a whole lot to life, and there’s a whole lot of life around here.

Of course, it’s a bit lonely. Most of my friends have gone home. My family is a border away. But we do the best we can, and technology definitely helps. I make sure to call my mom often, as she works at a supermarket and has been immensely busy these past few weeks. I duel my friends on trivia apps and we make time to watch our regular Netflix shows together. I busy myself with getting back into digital art, reading books, doing puzzles online and wrapping myself up in the sound of the wind that flies over the soccer field and whips by my window. The little waterfall that I watch from my room flows as fast as ever, now that all of the ice has melted. The pink and orange sunrises wake me up every day to remind me that I still have a home here, and that the world is still beautiful, and that I am not alone.

There is still such a wonderful community here, though small. It is a group of people who, despite remaining far from their families, continue to toss around frisbees and play badminton by the chapel. It is friends who offer you some of their ramen because their parents ordered them a few boxes too many. It is quiet talks in my floor lounge, where I am making tea and the guy from two doors down is stir-frying chicken on the stove. It is the geese and crows and squirrels and rabbits, and the Arb-walkers I see every afternoon, traipsing over the hill across the field. It is the people who lay down a blanket outside in the evening and sit silently, looking up to see the stars.

Saraswati is a hardy sophomore from Sudbury, Ontario, Canada with an undying love for all of Minnesota’s seasons. She is majoring in English with minors in Education Studies and Chinese, and has a passion for teaching and education policy. She is also an active board member of Carleton’s Model UN team. When not tutoring students or at Model UN practice, she loves to write poetry, read books filled with magical realism, and sketch portraits. Meet the other bloggers!