Monday, August 27, 2012

Freshman. Round Two

    Beep Beep, sounded the alarm clock at 5:45 a.m. A weary eye shot open. Followed shortly by another. Judgement day at last. The morning ceremonies commenced. Shower, clothe that body, feed, and grab the back pack. "Fare thee well Mother, I'm off to conquer the world" I found my lips uttering as I stooped over to give her a hug. Tears. Emotion creeping in. But I had no time to reminisce the 18 long years. So I jumped in my bus and puttered down the road.
    Upon arrival, I found many an open parking space for the taking. I got out, threw on my suit coat and strolled off into a new era of life. The looming doors seemed to say "come on in, the weather is fine. Expand your mind. Join the team". It was all too easy. With too much confidence, and too few worries, I proceeded to meander through the teeming hallways. I knew my destination: Sociology, Liberal Arts building. Room 25. I entered the room to find a few terrified college students. Sitting silently in their fears. The classroom began to fill. Miz Liz entered the classroom seemingly as nervous as the students themselves. We proceeded to cover the syllabus. This was it. I was living the educational dream in the basement of that cold crude concrete utopia. The first class passes seemlessly. We were released 20 minutes early. I clambered back up to the fresh air and light of the main level. Sitting in wait for my lovely lady friend (yeah I have one of those, but that's a story for another day) I watched countless students roll passed. 4,000? 5,000? Hard to tell. All in their own little worlds trying to survive the first day grind. After too brief a chattering with my Lovely Lady, I strolled off toward my next class. Hidden on the outskirts of the university, it was across campus from my then current location. I took some strange route...quite by accident. At last arriving at my destination a few minutes early. In waltzed Larry Harper, general hippie, free thinker, intergalactic explorer, and professor. English was his game. And that's what I was there for. He touched our minds, inspired our emotions, a filled our souls with his delight for writing. The class ended all too soon and it was back to the sea of students. I then was faced with two hours to try and deal with before my final class of the day. Pulling up a chair, I scoured the syllabus, all the while people watching. Familiar faces: Karsten! Tess! Josh! then finally a reuniting with my cousin Michael. We chatted about school matter for another hour until reluctantly I slinked off to American Civ. Back to the basement! This class was strange. Over crowded. The man next to me, old enough to be my dad, commented on the suit I was wearing. Class began. Chad Ostler, history whiz took the stand with a similar speech as to the others I had previously witnessed. Syllabuses Syllabai? To great astonishment, I peered over my shoulder and found Daniel Rollo staring back. We were both shocked. I chatted with him for moments after the class then cautiously headed towards the building's exit. Running into my lovely lady. And seeing a previous Institute friend, Catherine.
    Eventually I mounted the drivers seat of my car and fired up the engine. The ride home was brutal! traffic everywhere. I found myself swerving(okay actually very cautiously) driving through shopping center parking lots to avoid long traffic jams at the light, and further down the road, an accident. Home at last. Mixed feelings about the entire ordeal. But in the end, I survived, eerily awaiting tomorrow's ordeal of Humanities and Institute.