Collegiate Times

For one, despite proudly fitting everything into the back of my father's SUV, I quickly realized once I arrived to my room in Lee Hall that there was no possible way to fit everything in my itty-bitty room. That didn't stop my family and me from unloading everything and making endless trips up and down the stairs, only to repack the car again with items that didn't make the cut. So long set of four coffee mugs and bye-bye nightstand. Despite over-packing it didn't protect me from my most fatal mistake and overlooking the absolute most important accessory of a room: a fan. Once I was all moved in I didn't care how homey and cozy my new room was, all I could think about was that the fifth floor of Lee hall was as hot as Hades. Of course, I tried my best to make the most of it and spent time introducing myself to my new hall mates and meeting up with people I knew from home in the dining halls, but the thought of returning to my 100 degree room was not a pleasant one. After all, those months of preparing my new home didn't feel like a home at all, it felt like a sauna in the middle of Tahiti.

My first memories of Tech are sweaty ones, full of showers after class and then again before bed to cool down. I remember trying not to faint while I blow-dried my hair and pausing to catch any hint of a breeze. My roommate and I would sometimes stand in front of our open minifridge for a few moments of relief. I loved Tech and all of the wonderful opportunities ahead of me, but I would get pangs of homesickness when I would think about the comforts of home, mainly central air conditioning. I would gaze longingly at the students commuting to campus from a more civilized place with controlled temperatures and showers that didn't involve flip-flops. Not that I didn't love dorm life (I actually liked it so much that in the end I did it twice) but let's just say that the first few months weren't exactly a breeze (literally).  

I liked freshman year at Tech; football games were a blast and I couldn't get enough of the smoothies from Owens. Even things with my roommate were going great. However, I just couldn't imagine a time when Tech would begin to feel like a home.

Of course there wasn't a specific event or passage of time before Blacksburg became a home for me, but eventually that is exactly what it became. In fact, Tech became even more than a home for me.  It is the place where I met some of my best friends, where I discovered what I wanted to do with my life, a place where I learned more about myself than any textbook could have taught. When I look at the fresh faces entering our community this year I can't help but smile when I think of the rollercoaster ride the next four years is going to be for them.

I catch one of the new students staring at me longingly, probably noticing the commuter tag dangling from my mirror as they make their way from the cage back to their dorm.  I can sense them all willing me with their eyes to give them a ride, take them anywhere with less than 90 degrees heat.

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