Fresh Off Freshman Year

 After what had felt like a two-week stretch that had taken years off my life, I was finally where I had wanted to be this entire time. The sun was shining and the clouds were seemingly parting just for this very moment. The sounds of people loading their suitcases into the bottom of the bus with the bus driver yelling at people to be faster filled my ears. As I hopped around on my one leg up the stairs at the bus, I felt the stress wash away. It had been an incredibly stressful finals week. Lots of yelling had happened about different problems and many hours were spent staring at my computer hoping this YouTube video would be the last one I watched about counting and probability. To add to all of that, my reputation for being the clumsiest person alive was proven to be correct. I had hit my foot at an awkward angle on the curb of the road and sprained it the day before my flight, leading to a 2 AM trip to the urgent care and a late night for me and two of my friends. A lot had happened and I was excited to go back home to see the friends and family I loved.

Yet, those feelings were gone at that moment. As I looked down from the steps of the bus, I saw the people who had made this year so special. It’s funny how much can change in a year. 2 of them had stayed with me all night at the urgent care, entertaining me with stories as I was in pain and quite a bore to be around. I had gone from simply attempting to begin a project with 3 of them for a club called Google Student Developers to friends who had stuck by me for an entire year. 2 of them were the only ones that could rival my Boba obsession, although I may be more addicted to it at this point. 1 of them was actively carrying my backpack up the bus with me due to my injury, refusing to let me even wear it and go up white on my crutches. These people, and so many more, were most importantly, my friends. They had been there for me when I needed them. They had made this place where I used to be overjoyed to fly away from home. Much like it’s the people that make a house a home, it’s the friends made in university that make it a college. From playing pool in the basement (which I am still somehow horrible at), to movie nights in the lounges, to making ramen at 2 AM in the kitchen, I have had a lot of these small moments with these people that mean so much to me. Sure, big events like going ice skating and seeing a zoo were cool, but true friends are made in the mundane moments, the everyday walks to lunch, the complaining about the squirrel lecture our C professor showed us, or the time spent in the line together at Qdoba, these are the moments which make college special, and I am lucky I was able to share it with these people from across the world. Whether it was playing basketball with my friends from my first CS class after our math final or watching Jamal Murray hit a game-winner over Anthony Davis as we desperately tried to understand linear transformations, every moment was special. 

While it is nice making new friends, I have to thank my old friends as well. Many late nights were spent talking about just absolute nonsense (but it was still highly entertaining). The frequent boba runs during high-pressure weeks were always a joy as were the random walks at night to find new buildings to explore. You all reminded me of home while I searched for a new home there.

Just as the clouds were parting that day, I was parting from my friends too. As I waved bye to my friends from Redmond, Carmel, Pittsburgh, Edison, Cupertino, Dallas, London, and Sri Lanka, I couldn’t help but smile at how far I had come.  I came to Purdue as a boy away from home for the first time and was nervous about what lay ahead. I left my freshman year a man, thankful for his time here. Boiler Up!