Parents have gone, rooms are set up, and the (ridiculously) awkward freshman game night is behind us. Thank you lord! As I stand atop Libe Slope, dazed, I am hit with a sudden rush of exhilaration and anxiety. I am at Cornell!
I’m in the post-orientation period. It feels like it’s been months already! But hey, who’s complaining? Days seem shorter and the clock seems to tick faster. Living life on our own terms is exciting and yet, somewhat entirely daunting. Although I am finally in control of my life, the thought of taking care of myself is exhausting. In fact every night, sitting by my desk in the triple, I wait for my mom to call me from dinner downstairs.
Two days ago, I found myself in a nervous wreck. As I woke up and got hold of my cell phone, for a few seconds my cheeks flamed up, my ears screamed and my jaw dropped – I woke up at 10 am for a 9 am class! I missed an entire lecture…how did I manage that? I miss the comfort of Mom’s badgering to get out of bed. I sat on my bed, helpless and utterly devastated, I burst into silent tears (which no one could see). I missed my mommy!
The Cornell slopes pose an even bigger obstacle. I have never walked as much as I have in this past few weeks. Nobody walks in Dubai, because oil is cheaper than water! Naturally, with all this ‘abnormal’ amount of walking, an injury was bound to happen and it began with a bruised ligament in my right foot. To top it off I have not been able to figure out the TCAT system. Remember I have never used public transport before? One night I got on to the wrong bus, which took me all the way to downtown Ithaca. I freaked out and made a two dollar international call to my parents informing them that I was lost. Having decided that TCAT will have to wait, I have no option but to limp my way up and down Thurston Bridge at least four times a day. But, on the bright side, like my friend Eric’15 pointed out: “with these slopes say bye-bye to Freshmen’15,” (phew!).
Now to conclude…hold on…did I forget to mention how I got trapped in my dorm elevator? Tired and exhausted from class, as I pressed the “3rd floor” button on my Jameson elevator, all I could think of was jumping into my bed. All of a sudden the elevator trundled to a halt and I found myself trapped in it for twenty minutes! While waiting for help to arrive (and to keep myself calm) I took out my math textbook. Finally when the elevator opened up, I was greeted by my suit-mates, all of whom unanimously exploded into laughter at the sight of me solving math problems and one of them, Alex’15 said: “Wow, you really are a true-blooded Cornellian, doing work whenever and wherever.”
So, several weeks later, here I am sitting in the Uris Library, writing my Philosophy essay, completing the MyEconLab quiz, ordering rain boots online and in the midst of all this commotion I find myself ready to live life on my own (yes, with a few stumbles on the way, but hey, that’s common when you live on slopes, right?)