The single most common phrase I’ve heard today, the first day of the Spring 2015 semester: “Thank God I’m back at college.” I don’t know about you, but I was a little surprised at how many times I heard people say this today. Don’t get me wrong, I’m elated to be back at Tufts, starting my new fascinating classes and seeing all my friends again. But surely relief wasn’t the only emotion I felt when boarding the airplane from Bangkok to Boston. By that, I mean I sobbed all the way from security check to takeoff. I was devastated to leave my family, the tropical weather, and the spicy food in Asia. So I was a little confused at my friends’ expressions of utter relief at being back on campus. However, throughout the day, the answers came to me.
I walked by the 140’s suite in Haskell on my way to class, and as per usual, a friend who lives there was furiously banging on a keyboard creating some beautifully angry music. Ah, the feeling of being smacked in the face with wrathful music as you walk out the door. Makes you feel like you can do anything. Like face 20 degree weather.
I didn’t know I craved college food until I walked into Hodgdon and saw the delicious variety of sushi lined up for me, ALL FOR ME, in the fridge.
Tufts has amazing professors who are interested in just about anything you can think of. My 5:45 PM class today, called “Imagining the Environment: Cross-cultural Perspectives”, turned out to encompass exactly the field I wanted to study. The thing is, I didn’t even know that this field of study was a thing that existed. I was always interested in environmental science, but not the actual hard science, more like how ideas of wilderness and the environment is perceived and applied in society. Turns out, environmental humanities is exactly that! As I sat in the class going through the syllabus with a charming German-accented professor, I really felt like there was a place for me in the academic world.
I found my routine again. Being back home is indeed a vacation, and when I was in Bangkok, I went out all the time, slept late, woke up late, lazed around in the house all day and didn’t really have a routine to live by. My first day really made me appreciate the comfort of having a routine; my sleeping schedule is back to normal, and I’m keeping busy with things to do and normal-people-life errands to run. Life finally has some structure.
Sitting with my friends in Dewick was just sooo…. nice. I mean, it was loud, crazy, hectic, and overwhelming, but that’s what Dewick is. I felt oddly at peace in the middle of the chaos. I sat back, looked around at the bazillion conversations going on around me, and smiled a very contented smile.
This doesn’t count as being back on campus because technically, I was in a ski lodge in Vermont, but I did spend 3 nights with my Tufts friends, so I’m just going to say it counts as being back at Tufts. Those three nights were when I learned that brains can be super sexy. Seriously. Our dinner conversations were out of this world. Everything from the politics of pedophilia to the ethics of utilitarianism and justice were discussed.
I love love love home, but I equally adore being a college student at Tufts.