The Freshman Experiment

It was my alarm clock this morning that pulled me into reality. Even though I hadn’t heard that oh-so-familiar buzzing in several months, my body immediately recognized what it was. My arm shot straight out and found the tiny knob to shut it off in mere seconds, as though it was only yesterday that I was waking up for high school. I’m home and, naturally, it’s weird. Pulling into the driveway of my new house was like pulling up to a stranger’s—I didn’t recognize where we were going so I was surprised when my mom turned off the ignition. Surprisingly, I feel much more at home here than I expected to. It’s a little weird to wander around the kitchen or peek in the bathroom closet and not know where anything goes, but my bed squishes in familiar ways, so I feel okay.

This morning, before the “Epic Meal,” I went out to coffee with Hoodie and Tree. It was remarkable to see them. Hoodie loves her school, as we all predicted. Tree, although she seems to be doing really well, has a few more problems with college life. As much as it upsets me to know that she could be happier, it’s nice to know that I’m not the only one who’s not completely satisfied with her decisions. Our coffee was brief, so I’m excited to spend more time with them this weekend. Although there are lots of people who I’d like to see and reminisce with before I go back to PU on Sunday night, I have a feeling those reunions won’t be as natural as the ones with my best friends. It will be nice to see them and hear stories, but I’m sure there will be the tension caused by the mutual knowledge that we’re all just killing time until we return to “real life.”

Speaking of “real life,” I was actually sad to be leaving PU, if only for a long weekend. I didn’t really feel like saying goodbye to my friends, especially since I just regained free time to spend with them (now that Musical! has concluded). Don’t worry, I’m already working on the next show—I’m proposing to direct a musical next semester. I had a meeting with my production staff the night before I left and it went really well. Everyone was really excited about the project and seems eager to put in a lot of work. I’ll give you more details after we meet again and let you know if our show gets chosen for production (we should find out in early December). Of course, I miss Musical! a lot. Towards the end, it really came together and we had a great (and completely sold-out run). At first I was worried that I wouldn’t ever see my friends from the cast again, but I’ve already seen them several times in the days since the show ended. Plus, a bunch of them are on my staff for the upcoming show, so my fears have pretty much been assuaged.

I’m really looking forward to seeing my friends this weekend and getting a chance to relax with my family (and my dog—I’ve missed my dog!), but there’s also so much work to be done in the next few days. My first college applications are due December 1st, and I still have a lot of things to finish up and send out. Plus, NotMyDaddy is hopefully going to help me with statistics, which (if I can figure it all out) will take a lot of unneeded stress out of my life. So, excitement, WORK, and blog posts to come!

P.S. Did I mention the food for the “Epic Meal”? Actually the best thing ever. I will be eating pie and meat for weeks. And I’m so excited.

Home for the Bird Day, (5)
Friends and family abounding. (7)
Meat, meat, meat, meat, PIE. (5)