When someone mentions the city Boston, one thinks of its famous oysters and lobsters, prestigious colleges and excruciatingly cold winter. Yet the first thing that comes to my mind is the Boston Public Garden. It was the first place I visited when I came to Boston three years ago. I loved its calming, relaxing and peaceful atmosphere; its green grass and ponds; and the occasionally terrifying geese that approach you with something in mind.
However, to be brutally honest, I was not the biggest fan of Boston during my first semester at BU. This is the first city where I was separated from my friends and family, where I learned to be alone, and where I needed to become an adult. I remember leaving the gym late at night and then heading straight to the library because I didn’t like to be in my room — a single that’s cozy, but also lonely without a roommate.
I devoted so much of my time to school work because I thought that was what I needed to work for in order to be here. College life became a tedious routine for me. I still hung out with friends from time to time, but the feeling of loneliness and isolation never went away. They were also the reasons why I dreaded coming back home after break.
Still, school and life had to go on, right? Somehow, spring semester brought me some experiences that truly made me think, “we are college-ing!” Going to parties and after parties, lying on BU beach at 12 a.m. and buying snacks on the way back, these are the moments that added another layer to my college experience besides cramming in the library at midnight. Joining a pre-law frat and Q club advocating for LGBTQ+ rights is probably what I will remember about college in 10 years.
It seems cheesy to say it out loud, but balancing school and social life instead of sacrificing one for the other is so much healthier and more enjoyable.
Ups and downs are inevitable, but to me, it was the moments in between that made me appreciate being here with my friends. Although I can’t wait for the finals and papers to be over, I am truly going to miss my freshman year of college!
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