Two Weeks Down, Nine To Go

The beginning of college was a whirlwind. On top of scrambling to keep up with my new schedule, my new friends, and all the packing and unpacking I needed to get done, I had an avalanche of questions rushing through my head. Did I pick the right introductions? The right classes? The right school?

Luckily, the absolutely hectic New Student Week schedule whisked me into a flurry of orientations and activities, introducing me to new people and possibilities and helping these anxieties recede from consciousness. With every connection and new goal made, I’ve felt one step more confident in my choices and place here.

I guess that started with meeting my roommate. We have pretty different sleeping schedules and come from vastly different parts of the U.S., but we get along in the ways that matter. Again, I was initially anxious about the whole new roommate thing. But when I asked Walt about his music and TV tastes and his answers were Guardians of the Galaxy and X-Files centered, respectively, said fears more or less evaporated. A subsequent “do you appreciate Vine references?” text sealed the deal.

(For the record, this was my response: )

Next was New Student Week, a.k.a. one of the most tiring weeks of my life. I was in New Student Group Number 37, which, honestly, was the best group of them all. Y’know, objectively speaking. There I made some of my first new friends, kicking off the week with some pretty hilarious ice breaker games. My personal favorite: an opponent and myself had to try to be the first to correctly answer a trivia-type question. “Name a type of cat” was ours. I panicked… As it turns out, “Feline!” is not an acceptable answer to that question.

We spent the next few days learning about our class, the student body as a whole, as well as the institution we’ll be learning in. My upperclassmen NSW leaders were pretty awesome, and I miss seeing them every day. I think I’m gonna surprise each of them with Friday Flowers next time I have the chance. Shh, don’t tell.

Over the weekend, I attended training for my other job on campus: Cinema & Media Studies production office assistant. I feel incredibly lucky to have been placed in the positions I’m in, as they’re both tied so closely to my potential academic/professional interests. Initially, I was pretty anxious (noticing a pattern here?) about my first day on the job, but getting to know the team I was working with, as well as my job supervisor, turned out to be so much fun. In fact, I think I managed to make a few more new friends there — at work!

Next up was the first week of classes, which I was almost embarrassingly giddy for. This term, I’m taking Society in Silico (POSC 100) for my Argument & Inquiry Seminar, as well as Multivariable Calculus (MATH 211) and Elementary French (FREN 101). Society in Silico was particularly exciting to get sorted into, as it covers a number of topics I’m passionate about but haven’t received much formal education in yet. Basically, the class looks at big data and computer modeling in the context of modern sociopolitical problems. So yeah, right up my alley. Multivariable Calculus hasn’t been nearly as terrifying as I expected it to be (yet), and while French has challenged me (after taking six years of a dead language, I had no idea it was even a thing to be taught a new language in said new language — yay immersion!), it’s already proven rewarding. And I love my professors, in all said classes.

The end of the week saw the Student Involvement Fair, in which I signed up for far more organizations than I’ll have time to participate in, kind of like I did in Freshman Year of high school. I couldn’t find the Carleton Cheese Club, which was pretty tragic, but I did get involved in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Alliance, where I’m convinced I’m going to find more of my people.

I also signed up for Quidditch, and marveled at the notion that someone could write a book series so popular that the world comes up with a sport based on your work. Once I put my email down, I was handed a stick (broom?) and told to chase around a guy dressed in yellow (Snitch!), whom I eventually caught. So I guess you could say I had my first success as a Seeker that day, if we’re keeping score.

After that, I walked over to a particularly fascinating booth labelled “Heavenly Bodies” with some pretty drawings of planets and stars on the sign. I wasn’t quite sure what the club was, but hey, I like space (and glittery posters), so I put my name down anyway. And that’s the story of how I accidentally signed up for women’s Ultimate.

This weekend I’ve spent time trying to slow down and take in my new surroundings. Coming from suburban California, right outside the megapolis that is Los Angeles, the move to the rural midwest has been a bit of a shock in the best way possible. The silent nights here are spellbinding, and I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve spent about thirty cumulative minutes these past few weeks staring up at the stars. I also spent some time running in the Rec(reation Center), and, last night, headed over to The Cave’s first show with a couple of friends.

Which I guess brings me to today, right now. I’ve spent the past quiet hours outside, writing this post from a spot overlooking the lakes (Doc Robinson’s “Break My Fall” playing in the background, if anyone’s interested). The lack of light pollution and noise pollution (and, well, regular pollution) here is just spectacular. It makes me feel like I’m in another world. Which I guess, in a sense, I am. This is just an iPhone shot, and it’s not very well composed, but I think it illustrates my point:

This is a beautiful place to be.

P.S. When I found out one of my job assignments was to write for this blog, I was pretty stoked — largely because I did a lot of stalking of this page myself when I was a prospective student. So to anyone else out there reading this from the same position that I was in last year, I just want to say it’s gonna be okay. That you’ll make the right decisions. And that if it would help to talk to someone who went through something similar, I’m more than happy to give advice, answer questions, or just talk. Seriously, I kinda love this college stuff. And I did a ton of research on it. So if you have any questions about Carleton, or how I ended up here, or the college process in general, please, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me here. 🙂

Lucas just entered his freshman year at Carleton, bringing with him a passion for all things nerdy and a talent for overthinking and awkwardness (and self-deprecation). He hails from Pasadena, California, and yes, he realizes it gets cold out here. Currently wildly undecided, he can see himself attempting a Physics and Cinema and Media Studies double major, although Chemistry, Economics, and Computer Science (among many other subjects) have been tempting him as well. He misses his bearded dragon.

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