During my fall semester off, I spent my time working at WholeFoods Market. My mom or dad would drop me off behind the newly renovated building where I would spend the next 8 and half hours of my life scanning non-GMO eggs across a heavily sanitized conveyor belt. And while that may seem a bit bleak, I have to admit that working at WholeFoods was the best decision I could’ve ever made. Besides laboring under the tyrannical empire that is Jeff Bezos, I enjoyed the time away from Zoom, and classes, and the overall heaviness that Yale has a tendency to bring during the semester. So, when I arrived back at Benjamin Franklin College at the end of January, I was a bucket of mixed emotions.
For starters, saying goodbye to my 3 year old Boxer puppy Rio was truly unbearable. There’s nothing like dropping your pet off at doggy daycare after spending countless nights squeezed together in your childhood twin bed. I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy. And of course there’s the parents.
I was fortunate enough to have both my parents accompany me to New Haven during move-in. After Yale mailed all my belongings from my first-year back to California, I realized that I would have to make the obligatory Target run on my return. In essence, I was repeating my first-year move-in all over again; this time in more inclement weather. The Target bill was high and after a stop at Pepe’s so were my spirits. There’s just something about returning to the place where some of your fondness memories were created. Although, I knew it wouldn’t be exactly the same.
When I arrived at the Prospect St. gate of Franklin, I saw familiar faces—or rather half faces— and a collection of hired dorm movers. The movers took care of almost all of my belongings and with my first Covid test in ten minutes it was time to say goodbye to my parents. There weren’t as many tears as my first-year; admittedly however, there were more than a few.
During the first phase of quarantine where I could not leave my suite, my only suitemate and I felt a bit lonely. I was worried I had made the wrong decisions in coming back, and wondered if the entire semester was going to feel as cold and isolating as this week’s blizzard. I asked myself if I should’ve just continued working at WholeFoods and returned in the fall instead. Classes hadn’t even started and an overwhelming weight of regret and inaptitude was starting to set in.
And although that definitely sounded much more dreary than I might have intended, after receiving my first negative test and thus gaining the ability to leave my suite, little by little that weight began to subside. Whether it was the constant positivity of the Franklin dining hall staff, the Franklin facility in general, or the ability to reconnect with friends from all over the world, I soon realized that Yale is the place I’m meant to be. I’m not sure what the rest of the semester has in store or whether taking 5 credits was a great idea, but what I do know is that I’m sure I’ll be okay despite the challenges ahead.