Lily Harris – Los Angeles, CA
My freshman year of college, the time that I had been waiting for since I saw my brother go a few years earlier. What did I know about freshman year of college? Well I expected something along the lines of the classic cliché experience full of sorority girls and inconsiderate bros. But instead of the big Universities that many of my friends chose, I chose Pitzer and what an amazing experience it has been.
Being a freshman is an incredibly scary experience, I won’t
deny it. I had never been more nervous than the night before move in day. Would
I make friends? All my friends back home told me not to worry, but what if
everyone thought I was a freak because I loved kale and neuroscience?! Moving
on to campus the Pre-Orientation program leaders stood in a line to cheer and
welcome us. I slyly tried to avoid this only to be shouted and screamed out
with enthusiasm whether I wanted it or not. That’s kind of the way Pitzer is,
it’s incredibly hard not to feel welcomed and generally cared for, even by
those who you have never met. So after moving in and talking to other kids and
their parents I was here, this was college! The best years of my life!
To welcome us onto campus all freshman are required to go on
Outdoor Adventures before classes start. I signed up for beach camping, there are
so many different options and I ended up choosing the only lazy one where it
was essentially tanning, eating, and making attempts to start friendships. Then
through the many rounds of never how I ever and hot seat (the leader’s efforts
to have us all find out everything about one another in three days) I felt like
people were getting along and genuinely liked me! I was so incredibly nervous
going in but realized I wasn’t the only opinioned Pitzer student, but instead I
actually liked these people and, shocker, had things in common with them.
Outdoor Adventure is definitely one of my favorite things that Pitzer does for its
freshman, it made me feel like I wasn’t just being thrown into college and
independence alone, but rather that we are all in it together.
Getting back from OA I had to get into the reality that I
now lived with a stranger around a bunch of other strangers. These strangers
are now the wonderful people that I call my best friends. My roommate and my
friends on my floor are the most genuine people I’ve met, and my connection
with them is so strong that I feel like I can be totally myself. We were all in
the same place of excitement and nerves and guess what, I even met another nerd
who enjoyed the brain as much as I did! I swear that whoever places roommates
and floor mates together must be psychic. My friends from back home also told
me that I would never be close with my roommate and that was totally fine. But
there is something about us, me being a crazy Los Angeles diva and she being a
Texan who I didn’t know anything about that worked so well. Immediately living
with her felt like all those sleepovers you used to have in high school, but
this was every night! I couldn’t have been happier than being with her having
boy talk and Grey’s Anatomy cuddling viewing parties (yes that show is still on
the air). So my friends had been wrong! I ended up loving spending time with my
roommate and eat almost every meal with her and the rest of my wonderful motley
group of friends.
So Freshman year isn’t turning out to be that scary!
Everyone in the same boat and I am slowly but surely understanding where
everything is and how everything works! Although I won’t deny that I
unintentionally missed my first class, a psychology class that said it met TR,
that means Thursday right? Nope, Tuesday too. So now I know when all my classes
meet, have a wonderful group of friends and a wonderful connection to the other
colleges through parties, events and classes. Overall my first year has been
amazing, and I found that I wasn’t the only nerdy, unique girl looking to enjoy
and appreciate this wonderful California institution.
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