You rising freshmen at Boston University are in the same position I was a year ago. It’s the beginning of a new chapter in life for everyone, but for some it’s the beginning of a larger adventure. For me, moving across the country for school was a huge step, one I felt more than ready for. However, although completely cliché, leaving home was a lot more bittersweet than I had either expected or showed.
You probably won’t realize it for a while. It might take a few weeks, months or even the whole year — in my experience it was all of the above in varying stages and circumstances. In the first few weeks, you miss the trivial stuff. For me, as any other true Southern Californian, I missed the Mexican food. You miss your private little haunts, the movie theater you’re used to, driving, maybe. But in the weeks that turn into months, you start to miss the more substantial things.
You really start to miss your friends. Not to say you didn’t miss them before — of course, you missed them as soon as you left, before you were leaving even. After that, though, it turns into a different sort of missing. It’s the kind of missing that really gets to you, the core of you. Over time, that only progresses. When you finally get back home, you miss the person you once were.
Now, take all this with a grain of salt. These are, after all, words of wisdom from a columnist who has yet to enter her 20s.
Moving on, during your time away from home, as nostalgic as you may be for your hometown, you’re still living. You’re still going out into the city of Boston, exploring campus, downtown, the North End, Cambridge, Brookline, Coolidge Corner … or at least I hope you do during your time at BU, even in your first year. That’s one of my regrets from freshman year, not seeing enough of the wonderful city around me. You might think, “Hey, I’ve got about four years here, it’s plenty of time, I can wait a bit.” It’s so easy to put off. I put off going to the Boston Commons for a whole year — I still haven’t been to MIT or BC, and I have yet to see Cape Cod, Salem and Plymouth.
Most of you probably filled your summer with as much fun as possible, jam-packing the days with friends and things you felt you wouldn’t be able to do during the school year. It’s good to make the most of the days you have, but the same goes for every day, even when you think you have other obligations to fulfill. Yes, college is about education. But that doesn’t mean life stops happening. It’s about the balance of it all. If you only spend your days cooped up in the library or your dorm room studying to no end, you won’t be living. Bring some of that summer mentality to school with you; it might do you some good.
I wish the best of luck to all of you new Terriers. Make every day count, whether they’re good or bad.
Krissen Kawachi is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and a Spring 2012 columnist for The Daily Free Press. She can be reached at [email protected].