When I first arrived at Guilford College, wide-eyed and eager, I really had no idea what I was in for. I had breathed a sigh of relief over the summer when I learned that I had managed to avoid being put on the substance-free floor or even worse, the all girls dorm. I was a new resident of the third-floor of Milner, a.k.a. the ‘party dorm!’ I spent the summer worrying if I would be “crunchy” enough for Guilford and if I would get along with my mysterious roommate from Maine who didn’t even have a Facebook! I was excited to join the radio station and meet people who listen to Belle and Sebastian, and The Magnetic Fields as much as I do. Now after a year at Guilford, almost none of my expectations have been met. My five best friends are residents of Shore, the dreaded all girls dorm, where I spend most of my time. None of them like the same music as me, and they watch The Hills religiously. But other than that, they are actually decent people, and the six of us have grown to be practically inseparable.
As I said before, I was excited to live in Milner, which I had heard was the party dorm, but I now realize that I must have misheard the informer, or perhaps they had a thick Boston accent. Milner is in fact the potty dorm, an easy mistake for a naive ear to make. Having never seen the dorm before, there is no way I could have known, but after living here for seven months, it is perfectly clear. The dorm constantly reeks and is often covered in urine, feces and vomit. And, as smelly stuff tends to attract flies, the third-floor bathrooms are a fly haven.
It is a little known fact that I am a germaphobe. College is a stressful time for everyone, but I must admit one of my most stressful routines is trying to simultaneously watch all of the little black flies on the walls and curtain of the shower stall while washing my hair.
People told me that the best way to make friends in college is to get involved with as many clubs as possible. I attended the first meeting of the cooking club, Forevergreen and the outdoors club. I never went back to any of them again, but at least I had the opportunity to sign myself up to receive multiple emails every day for the rest of the year, so I know what I’m missing out on. I never joined the radio station, but I did join the Guilfordian, which was one of the best decisions I could have made to get me integrated into college. Not only did it allow me to learn about everything that was happening on campus without having to open the Buzz, it also gave me something beyond general academics to really care about. I came to Guilford thinking I wanted to major in environmental studies, but now I have changed my major to English, and I actually have an idea of what I might want to do with the rest of my life.
In high school, I focused on getting good grades. For the most part, I got them. I did the bare minimum to get the grade — Sparknotes and Wikipedia were my best friends. If I could retain a formula or a date or an event in my memory long enough to scrawl it down on a quiz, I was golden. Upon reflection, I can’t recall much of anything that I learned in those four years.
In college, I now realize that grades don’t matter in the sense I thought they did. Many of my teachers don’t provide letter grades or percentages on my work, but instead hand back papers covered in constructive criticism and comments for improvement. Eighty percent of the work I do is reading that I am never quizzed on. For the first time, I am taking only classes that I want to take. It’s funny how when you are genuinely interested in what you are being taught, the grades will follow.
This is not to say that I am now a perfect student. Procrastination is still my forte. But I’ve made the important realization that I’m not here merely for a degree, or worse, to party every night of the week in that stink-hole of a dorm. I am here to learn for learning’s sake.
This year has flown by in the blink of an eye and I’m sure the next three years will too. Before I know it, the Guilford bubble will burst and I will be out there in the “real world.” It’s a scary prospect, but I feel like at this rate, come May 2011, I’ll have taken enough courses in political science, philosophy, religion and art to hold up my end of most “adult” conversations. And beyond the satisfaction of feeling well versed and cultured, I will have the experiences and knowledge to allow me to do whatever I decide I want to do. At this point, as long as I can travel and write I’ll be happy, but who knows what I’ll be up for in another three years.