前几天晚上，我在一个派对上遇到了我大一的一个老朋友。这很奇怪，因为再见到他就像拜访前世一样。我们仍然偶尔见面，但我们已经从赖特方庭的生活中走出来了。尽管已经过去两年了，我们的会面还是引发了一场关于现在的新生的讨论，以及我们在他们这个年龄时看起来有多么不同。周六，当我们看到成群的新生在大学别墅(Varsity Villas)周围走动时，我们想:“我们真的是那种会在找到一个派对让我们进去之前，先查看一个停车场的人吗?”我们立刻就达成了共识。但有些事情并没有改变，我们总是要经历大一。即使回到印第安纳大学两年了，我仍然觉得自己像个新生。我对离开家人和朋友感到悲伤，但也期待着新的一年将带来什么。在去机场的路上，我看到妈妈的眼睛里充满了泪水，因为我发誓要经常打电话回家过感恩节。 \nI also make the pledge every year that I'll attend all of my classes and get the highest grade point average I can, but by the end of the semester, I realize just how funny pipe dreams can be.\nWhen I first started looking at colleges, I knew I didn't want to go to a school close to home. I visited campuses from Indiana to New Hampshire to South Carolina and looked as far away as California. The possibility of staying close to home never once crossed my mind. I wanted to get away from New York, and not go to school with a bunch of New Yorkers or people from New England. \nSo, against most of my friends and family's wishes, I made the trek from New York and became an "adopted Hoosier." I didn't know then what a Hoosier was and, quite truthfully, I still don't. I wasn't a basketball fanatic and couldn't care less about Bobby Knight. Something deep inside just told me IU was the right fit, and that by receiving a Midwestern education I would be miles ahead of other college graduates.\nFor a while, it was hard being 800 miles away from home. I missed my family and friends. After all, these were the people who knew me best and the ones with whom I shared joy and heartache. It took me a year and a half before IU really felt like home. But now, two years later, I couldn't be happier. While I still get homesick sometimes, I know I made the right choice.\nCollege is a big adjustment process and one you can't expect to overcome in your first week. Some do have an easier transition than others. Some, unfortunately, might never feel at home here. But in time things get easier. You'll be able to throw away the campus map, leave for class with five minutes to spare and know you'll find your class okay. Some freshmen might be surprised to know that even upperclassmen don't know where every building is or what the bus schedules are.\nWhen I think back to when I first came to this campus as a student, I realize how much I've changed. I can now see my faults and realize my vulnerabilities. I've gone through some hard times here, but I've also had some good experiences. I fell in love, made new friends and learned to live on my own. It wasn't easy. It never is. IU is a big ' and sometimes intimidating ' place. But no other university offers so many challenges and opportunities.\nPeople ask me all the time if I regret leaving the Big Apple and assimilating into Midwestern culture. The answer is simple ' no. I have the best of both worlds. I'm able to split my time between being a "rude" New Yorker and a "wholesome" Midwesterner. And while I'm here I realize how unexpected each day is and how that makes us all freshmen again at some point.
