These past few weeks I have done everything from outdoor yoga classes to live comedian shows, all in a different state surrounded by new people, so it’s no wonder I feel as if I was sent away to summer camp. I mean yeah, I still have homework and quizzes, but I have met so many new people and have new things to do each day; it has been so refreshing and exhilarating. So what led me to this conclusion that my first semester goes toe to toe with summer camp is because naturally, I started out with a leadership retreat. I moved in four days early to join the I Am Chapman Emerging Leaders Retreat, which taught us different perspectives of the world we live in. We talked about identity, politics, and activism during each meeting. Every night was very emotional and mentally exhausting, as I imagine summer camp would leave me. We even went on field trips to the California African American Museum and the Museum of Tolerance, both which were equally enlightening and frightening, and left us to reflect on not only the state of the world but also what part we had in saving it.
Then orientation week started. The move in day was so busy; I mostly avoided my room except for meeting my roommates. There was Playfair and Chapman After Dark, to which the objective was to meet a bunch of freshmen at the same time, which was accomplished… but now I barely remember any of their names. The rest of the week was more introduction to classes and sessions that discussed sexual and drug abuse, but at night it really did feel like a big sleepover, because I would text a friend saying, “meet me in the Henley basement,” or “you at the Circle?” and we’d go to get gelato or play pool or watch the season finale of Game of Thrones. So many things were planned for Orientation, and many more unplanned spur of the moment adventures arose, Club Galaxy, a sitar concert, a dance performance, midnight donut runs, going to a footlong burrito place, went to multiple outdoor malls, walked Newport beach, went to a friend’s house in Costa Mesa and tried to steal their cat for my dorm, went to trivia night, been serenaded out of my dorm window, bought tickets to Ty Dollar $ign and Imagine Dragons, went to a pool party, and met so many people from different countries from Brazil to Russia to the Philippines.
So I don’t know when it will hit me, maybe when I have my first research paper? But I know for sure, I have made the right choice in attending Chapman. The people I have met have been so willing to learn, open to others, and have been able to show me a good time in Orange, and am ready to see what else Chapman has in store.
Photo: Raquette Lake Boys Camp