Chapter 2: A Freshman Again

My parents both drove me here, mostly because, I think, my mother was having a hard time with sending her first-born off to college, where she wouldn’t see me for some months. The last couple of days before we left she looked like she was getting misty-eyed and trying to avoid breaking out in sobs.

As in everything else in this document, I make a point of obscuring names, locations, cities -- anything that would possibly link back to me, for reasons I already mentioned. Call it paranoia, if you will, but you’ll have to humor me. The school that awaited me you would recognize immediately. I’m not giving anything away by telling you it’s in the Ivy League and located in the Northeast.

My dad rented a small U-Haul trailer to hold my stuff, and we drove here, all of us, including my kid sister, Mindy. I’m sure that was because they wanted her to start thinking seriously about college, too. The trip took the better part of a day before we finally turned in to the entrance to --------- University. There were students with clipboards posted there to direct cars to the dorms we had been assigned.

We found the dorm without too much trouble, and with four of us lugging boxes it took only a short time to unload everything. I had been assigned a roommate but apparently he hadn’t arrived yet. The dorm was coed, but men and women on different floors. My dad raised an eyebrow when he figured this out and muttered, “Didn’t have anything like this when I was in college.”

My room was halfway down the hall. There was a 3x5 card on the door with the names of the occupants. There were toilets and showers at one end of the hall, and a common room with couches and soda machines at the other.

When the last box had been stacked in the corner of the room my dad said, “Well, looks like you’re all set now, you just gotta put everything away. We should probably get going so we can find our motel and get something to eat.” He pulled me in for a hug, something he doesn’t do frequently. “We’re really proud of you, Tom. Try to give us a call every few days, let us know you’re still alive.”

My mother finally couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she threw her arms around me and wept. It was a little embarrassing, but I’d seen some other guys here on the same floor going through the same thing with their parents. Finally, my father said, “Jane, we need to go. He’ll call soon.” Reluctantly, she pulled herself away and walked out, looking back over her shoulder.

And that was that. I was alone, stuck here for the next few months. I don’t mean to sound like I wasn’t looking forward to this. This was my first choice school, and I was really excited about the next few years. The only thing that could have made it better was if Karen were here with me, but she was now thousands of miles away and I had no way to get in touch with her until she could send me her mailing address.

I sat on the bed and looked around, listening to the bustle from the rest of the floor as students got settled. These were all freshmen -- higher classes would arrive in a few days -- and we had various orientation activities scheduled for tomorrow and beyond.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was past dinner time. I was on the meal plan but I thought the dining hall wouldn’t be open yet, but I had to do something so I grabbed a jacket and went out to look for it.

I had a crude Xeroxed campus map and was able to get oriented without too much difficulty and, sure enough, it was closed and a sign said it would be open at seven the following morning. Well, I’d probably miss the excitement of the doors opening because I wasn’t going to get up at seven no matter how good the breakfasts were.

So using the map I found what I thought was the business district and quickly located a coffee shop that was still serving, so burger and fries and a Coke and I was good till morning.

With only one quick look at the map I found my way back to the dorm which was now sounding like party central, with parents gone and students realizing that there was no one to tell them to keep it down. I found my room and the door was partially open, so I walked in.