Four years to go

I'll admit it! To some, I'm "taking the easy way out!" I'M A HUMANITIES MAJOR!! I was warned. I've heard that humanities majors here are put down for "slacking off." But I'll say up front, I LOVE the humanities, and I'll wallop ANYONE who derides my preference with my hefty copy of War and Peace!

Frankly, I'm a bit nervous to be one of the few English students in a school of science gurus. I don't want to be underestimated because of my enjoyment of literature. Even so, my worries as an English major still permit room for all of my other freshman worries to feed upon my brain. I'm sure my list of anxieties are shared by nearly every other freshman, that they're a virtual commonplace, but there's a sampling anyway:

I'm no longer the in-charge and intimidating senior.

I could be brutally murdered in the streets of Baltimore and then fed to the dogs!

I won't have my 20 pound cat to hug! I might not make the debate team!

And before I moved in - which is thankfully NOT the case - my roommate might have been another Britney Spears!

And the list continues endlessly.

Face it, all freshmen encounter similar anxieties about beginning college. We're beginning a new life - even perhaps creating a new self, a new identity.

3,500 new people. Virtually everyone unknown, every face a novelty. No one is aware of your teenage acne, your former idiotic girlfriends/boyfriends, your high school identity. Now, you have the opportunity to become the person you wish you were while forming completely new friendships.

And I can't omit one fact: meeting new guys (or girls, if you are a male) to date! I'm personally bored of the same guys I've known for years in Frederick County. Perhaps now is my chance to become "the belle of Baltimore" (in the words of a silly teacher). And there should be smart guys who aren't intimidated by intelligent girls! Yeah, maybe I'm hoping for too much, but isn't hope irretrievably connected to the traditional, college-freshman hope for a better life as a "Pretend-Adult," financially dependent upon one's parents?

Aside from the social life, college offers new, challenging material and numerous research opportunities to learn, learn, learn! And with this new environment comes a new set of obstacles to overcome in order to prove ourselves. And then, in four years, there's the world!

But maybe my most valuable acquisition as a new freshman is my independence. No more "Your room looks like a cyclone hit it;" "Don't take that tone of voice with me;" "Is that safe?" and "You didn't call when you got there to let me know you arrived safely." I'm free! I'm dependent upon myself, alone and eager to enter my pseudo-adult life.

And, while I'm excited, I feel thoroughly like a freshman as I walk clueless about the campus, stumbling down emergency stairways and fumbling foolishly with the elevator control panel. Of course, orientation has really helped to moderate my freshman idiocy, but even it has impressed upon me how many people I don't know. Playfair, for example - an endless stream of unknown faces! I still can't store a person's name in my mind for more than five seconds after I meet them. It's terrible - now I introduce myself to people with the words, "Have I met you? I think I have."

So maybe this college thing isn't too bad, even with all the minor worries. Maybe my former teacher was right when he exclaimed, "College is the best time of your life! Stay there as long as you can, as long as your parents will foot the bill!" Besides, I think I've solved one of my freshman problems. I could pass my cat off as a pillow. He's a lump of fat rather than a lump of stuffing, so surely no one could tell the difference?