Freshman settles in to college life
It’s 9:30 a.m. in Logan as the sun seeps through Taylor Young’s bedroom in an effort to yank him out of bed. Amid the new sense of spare time and freedom, it’s at least a blessing Earth’s natural elements have found a way to keep him upright during his first week as a college student.
Young, an 18-year old Layton, Utah, native, pulls off his covers and heads directly to the shower – growing up in a military family has taught him nothing good comes unless you’re always on the move. He’s lived everywhere, from Georgia to England, and surprisingly he’s found much of his life gathers routine; he has his interests, his same personality and he’ll probably always start off the morning singing in the shower. This morning Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” is his weapon of choice; and tomorrow, who knows?
Young scarfs down a large bowl of Frosted Flakes and is out the door by 11 a.m., en route to the parking office. No more subdivision driveways to lean on – if you have a vehicle on this campus you’ll need a badge – almost like “Dragnet,” on wheels, but without the cool theme music.
A good hour and $73 later, Young steps out of the building both impressed with the politeness of the lady at the counter and bewildered by the price he paid to put his vehicle into a white-painted box. At first he wondered if the lady was kidding – some sort of freshman prank to trick them into thinking parking really was that expensive. But alas, it truly demanded that pretty of a penny.
After taking the long route back to his new abode in Merrill Hall, Young parks his car and makes the long walk across 400 North to his apartment.
It’s now just past noon as he and his roommate Devin Patterson walk into the apartment, a little aghast at one of their comrades slurping down Ramen noodles in nothing but green boxer shorts. It turns out not all college life clichés are myths. They followed up with some nervous giggles, a quick lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and it was time for the university “newbies” to do what they do best: hang out.
Before long it’s already 1:30 p.m. and Andrew Ellis, the resident assistant, raps on the door, spreading the message that it’s time for a roaring game of pickup volleyball.
And it was roaring, quite roaring. It was 4 ½ hours-long roaring. In all this time Young realizes three things: 1. Summers in Logan are about as beautiful as he’s ever seen. 2. Outdoor volleyball can deem itself quite addicting. 3. Judging by the consistent collision the ball makes with nearby cars, he may have dodged a bullet with such a far away parking pass.
It’s 6 p.m. and only a few hours until an activity held by the RA. Young changes his volleyball-ridden clothes, throws on some “smell goods,” and thinks of something rather productive for himself and his roommates to do to pass the time: they hang out.
And just like that they’re off to the Merrill Hall Lounge for “Mixed Drink Night.” Ellis, blender in tow, greets them with a laugh and begins setting Young up with some non-alcoholic frozen juice with the best of everything – strawberries, lemons, bananas, etc. They sit down to enjoy a hearty marathon of “Psych,” but, due to technical difficulties, are sadly confined to watching Channel 2 News. Within minutes his buddies Devin and Emerson Ugy shoot him a text from across the room: “You wanna go?” A quick nod and wink over to their corner, and they’re back en route to the apartment.
It’s now 11 p.m. and everything else starts to go like a blur. Come home. Hang out. Set up some black lights. Throw on a little reggae music. Laugh. Hang out. Take down the lights – following some stern reprimanding from the RA. Hang out. Talk about the weather. Hang out. Keep hanging out. Wait for some friends to arrive.
Now midnight has passed. Young jumps into the car with some friends. They take a detour to Taco Bell that turns into a 90-minute laughter-induced romp. They’re back at his place for a nightly routine of Halo 3 and some more hanging out to cap off the day.
After a long journey of cereal, parking debacles, volleyball and numerous other adventures, he slides into his bedroom at 2:30 a.m. to complete his nighttime routine: take off jeans; go to bed.
Day three of college life: complete.
– steve.schwartzman@aggiemail.usu.edu