When I returned to campus at the start of my sophomore year last August, I felt comfortable — relieved even that Boston University was just as I had left it. Nothing about the campus, at least nothing I could put my finger on, had changed.
So maybe my place of residence was different, but I was not the least bit saddened about swapping my former home, Warren Towers, for the classier Myles Standish Hall.
But this year’s homecoming went a bit differently.
Charlie ate my wallet
I got out of the airport, boarded a courtesy bus to the Blue Line, arrived at the turnstiles and got smacked in the face by a 30-cent fare hike. Oh Boston, it’s good to be home.
Freshman status
After dumping my luggage in my parents’ hotel room, I marched on over to the Terrier Card office to pick up my new “tap-and-go” ID card. I hadn’t even crossed the office’s threshold when I heard, “Are you a freshman?”
For what it’s worth, this woman was probably told to ask every student whether he or she was a freshman so she could direct him or her to the correct line, but for the purposes of my sanity — in other words, my ego — I would have appreciated something more akin to, “Are you a returning student?”
Where art though BU beach?
I decided to nurse my wounded ego outside. Mistake. Moments after leaving the GSU I stumbled upon a deconstructed BU beach. Disgusted with what I saw, I fled to Bay State Road, hoping that the attractive brownstones and towering foliage would offer some relief.
Thankfully, the BU beach was restored a few hours after. Yet, the site of a grassless beach — yes, this beach has grass — will forever scar me.
Man vs. machine
The following day, I checked into my new home on Bay State Road. A quick survey of the laundry room — let me rephrase that, laundry closet — made me realize that brownstone life was going to take some adjustment. Twenty-two people to one machine?
100 Bay State, say what?
As I peered of my parents’ hotel window Tuesday night, glaring at me from across the street was the new East Campus Center for Student Services. It was a beautiful building — the Bay State Road side at least — but it saddened me to think that Shelton would never host another Fancy Friday, that Towers would never serve another smoothie. Though I never indulged in either of those things, it was always nice to know they existed.
Since moving in I’ve come across remnants of BU’s former self, the academic buildings remain largely unchanged, Warren and West appear the same, and yesterday I ran into a former Myles dining hall worker serving up pancakes in the center for Student Services. Nevertheless, as I look down over Bay State this Sunday morning, I can’t help but reflect on the changes.
Meaghan Kilroy is a junior in the College of Communication and the Opinion Editor for The Daily Free Press. She can be reached at mkilroy@bu.edu.
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