At the end of our freshman year, in May 2001, I decided to keep a running commentary on the things happening in my (our) college lives. I called it "College Reflections." I comment on things that have caught my attention or have changed since the last time I've written. Here are just some of the more interesting (and less private) excerpts.
"It's been a good semester and there's reason to believe that next year will be better than the last..." (To the tune of "A Long December" by Counting Crows)
Sunday, March 23rd, 2003
[This is a quote I found over a year ago - those of you who know me will know what this is referring to (a little after the fact)]
"After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul and you learn that love doesn't mean possession and company doesn't mean security and you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises and you begin to accept your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead with the grace of an adult and not the grief of a child. And you learn to build your roads today because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight and after you learn that even sunshine burns if you get too much, so plant your own garden and decorate your own soul instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers. And you learn that you really can endure, that you really are strong, and you really do have worth and you learn with every goodbye, you learn." (Author Unknown)
Thursday, December 5th, 2002
This semester, I also got pulled into the wonderful, friendly circle of the KSP or, its English name, the RCA - Russian Cultural Association. Although Ilya and Eugene have been trying to get me to go since the club's inception last year, I always came up with excuses not to. This year, thinking that it can't hurt to have a change of scene and perhaps meet some new people (reading between my own lines, meet some new guys), I finally showed up. It is now one of my favorite relaxations and I definitely look forward to Tuesday evenings.
Sunday, July 7th, 2002
[Realizations after my trip to England and Russia] The game on July 3rd was against the New York Mets and after a great game and a win for the Phillies, we were allowed to congregate on the field to watch the fireworks. Sitting just beyond third base on the somewhat uncomfortable, itchy "grass," watching the fireworks celebrating Independence Day, I couldn't help but think about how American the whole thing was. And although the fireworks were very cool, I think part of the "coolness" factor was the "Americanness" factor.
Monday, May 6th, 2002
My sophomore year ended just 5 days ago, yet it is already a distant memory. At 9:30 am on May 1, 2002, when I walked out of the LRSM Auditorium, I had finished my 2nd year of college. Amazing and damn scary. Like Ilya said, it's going too fast, our college careers are already half over and it seems like we just truly begun to enjoy them. I remember visiting Ryan when we all got accepted to Penn and him showing us around. How the first building whose name I remembered was DRL. That infamous building. And now, I am where Ryan was two years ago, I'm a college sophomore (junior by now) with just two years left. Ryan is graduating this year and going to medical school at Temple.
Sunday, July 22nd, 2001
Summer is more than half over now and soon we will go back to our respective colleges, to our respective lives that we now lead nine months out of the year. . . . Eugene keeps on wanting to do a reunion - but no one is interested enough. We're all too busy to simply get together for dinner w/people we do not consider our closest friends.
Sunday, May 27th, 2001 - first entry
And so, the first year of college came to a close just over two weeks ago. It has been a year of many firsts, a year of affirmations, a year of growing up. . . . As the first of my friends started packing for college, I asked myself, yet again, what the following year would bring. . . . And then, the day nine of us have been waiting for, arrived. August 30, 2000 - University of Pennsylvania Freshman Move In Day. . . . In general, the year was one of hard work both in classes and in trying to keep our sanities. . . . We knew college would be hard, now [after the first semester], not only did we know just how hard it could be; we also knew it would only get harder from there on. . . . Walking out of Room A1 in DRL at 10:30 am on Friday, May 11th, 2001, I knew I had finished my freshman year of college. What an awesome feeling. . . . Coming home was an interesting change of pace. One of the first thing my parents said to me was that they understood that we all had changed, I had lived a year w/o them and they had lived a year alone w/o me. They understood that we would all have to adjust.