To A (somewhat) New Beginning

I remember all of this. Buses pulling in and out of CC Little, quirky shops in the Nichols Arcade, deer crossing the street right in front of Bursley Hall. Even the weather—early September Ann Arbor weather is in a distinct category all in its own for me. I remember taking my first-ever bus down to Central Campus (a Commuter North bus) and being disoriented like no other, because both sides of CC Little looked identical. I had my first meal at Pancheros, because that’s where I ended up after a series of random turns that somehow felt right.

It all feels eerily familiar the second time, the same exhilarating sense of independence tinged with a slight shudder for the responsibility that accompanies it. But it’s different as well—I’m coming back to my home from another home. Ann Arbor is no longer a place full of unknowns, where I know I’ll be forced to search for answers that exist somewhere in this place. Instead, I know where to look for the answers (well, at least some of them) that I’ve carefully stored away in nooks and crannies. I know I’ll have more questions and more answers I’ll need to tuck away in places around town. I know my playing ground, and I can’t wait to start playing again.

A new beginning means changes—moving into an apartment instead of a dorm room is one of them. It’s an aspect of this year that I’m looking forward to the most, but one that will undoubtedly be very different. My freshman dorm experience as a member of the Michigan Learning Community called Living Arts was unique in that I had the chance to live in a hall filled with people constantly engaging with each other on many levels. I was always surrounded by many people who shared my interests, from art to theater to engineering. Living in an apartment after a year in Bursley will be a welcome change, but I will definitely miss the communal aspect of bustling dorm life.

New and improved schedule: after the infamous ‘Foundation Year’ at the Stamps school, I am so glad to have control over my classes that more accurately reflect my interests. It’s going to be an interesting semester, with my full load of classes ranging from Acting 101 to Linguistics to Programming and Data Structures. After my first week, I can safely say that I genuinely love all my classes and am excited to go to class every day. It’s going to get challenging as the semester goes on (I can already see the storm coming) but even that makes me more excited for how much I’ll have grown at the end of the semester.

So, here’s to the new, the old and the in-between. To a (somewhat) new beginning.