After a lengthy absence, I have returned!
Today we shall dive into life on campus. College friends are some of the closest friends you will probably encounter in your life. Thus, getting to know people on your campus is an integral part of the college experience. My friends come from diverse backgrounds, whether that be in terms of majors, political ideologies, or thoughts on favorite ice cream flavors. This diversity is representative of Amherst as a whole and something that I am grateful for. Below are a few snapshots and stories from my first year on campus. Enjoy!
A question I often get during tours is, "What do students do on campus?" I usually respond with an anecdote or two referencing my and others' experiences at Amherst, but some of my favorite moments have occurred at various college sponsored events.
I. This past Fall, a few of my friends and I watched our field hockey and football teams play against Wesleyan during Homecoming. At a bonfire the night before, Amherst gave students a Mammoth logo shirt after revealing our new mascot design. I missed the event, but my friends went, which is why they are wearing the shirts in this picture and I am not. As a pre-game treat, we went into town to get bubble tea from a local shop called Lime Red. However, bees promptly attacked us, and one of them decided that my mouth would be an appropriate resting place; it wasn’t. Thankfully we survived and made it to the game on time.
II. A few months later, we attended a Pindar Dinner. These dinners were established so that students could meet other students from different majors and background in a more formal setting; there is a dress code and phones are prohibited for the duration of the evening. Every student receives at least one invitation each year for this event. One of the head chefs from our dining hall personally oversees the event and explains the components of the meal and the thought behind the menu. I was at a table with people from different majors and interest from myself, and I only knew one person at the table. But we ended up laughing together for most of dinner; we joked about different Amherst related issues, the fact that we were dressed up so nicely, and about the dessert which had a curiously shaped, translucent ball of what we at first thought was plastic, but turned out to be gelatin. All in all the dinner was fun, slightly weird, but also a welcome change of pace from normal dining hall fare.
III. Every year during Commencement and Reunion, students have the opportunity to work for the college at various events. This past semester, I worked during both weeks and got to experience living on campus without any paper deadlines looming over my head. By some weird coincidence, the housing office paired me with one of my best friends, Eunice (pictured to the left), for housing during those two weeks. It was a blessing in many ways: 1) I got to live with someone I knew, 2) I had someone to test out my new jokes on, and 3) one of our other close friends lived on the floor below us. The three of us binge watched all 61 episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender in a week and a half; it was glorious, but also cringe worthy. I worked with facilities to clean a few of the dorms used to house parents and alumni during those two weeks. It was fun getting to know some of the custodians who regularly work in the buildings on campus. At the end of the first week, we had a group pizza party to celebrate our hard work. I still talk to the custodians that I worked with during those two weeks, and the conversations we've had have been some of my favorite ones that I've had on campus.
IV. The best part of working during Commencement was watching my friends that were Seniors graduate. Being friends with Seniors is an interesting thing: 1) They are leaving at the end of the year, so it's a very sad occurrence, 2) they have had three-years of experience at the institution you are just starting to attend, and 3) they are often great mentor figures for you as you try to navigate your first-year on campus.
For me personally, the Seniors in the Christian Fellowship (ACF) and the Black Christian Fellowship (Remnant), are people that really helped me to grow not only in my faith, but also in my relation to others on campus; they didn't always know the answers, but they were willing to discuss whatever issues I was having and were also willing to confide in me as well. A few days before Commencement, a few of the Senior women in Remnant gathered some of the first-year women together for a sleepover; it was a fun night, a night of reflecting on the past year, but also a night to look forward to the years to come. It was sad to see them leave, but it was also nice to know that a few of them were staying on campus and in the Boston area. So, when you get to your college campus as a first-year, don't be afraid of befriending Seniors; you'll only have them for a year, but they might become some of the best friends you'll encounter in college.
Thus ends Part I. Tune in later this week for Part II, as I continue on my journey through my first-year campus experiences!
~Abigail O.
