Oh, so you're a freshman...

College kids say the darndest things. Every day I am assumed to be an undergrad on this campus. Earlier this week, I was mistaken for a freshman and today I was mistaken for a senior. My laid back demeanor, Marvel backpack, and "regular" clothes probably don't help my cause. (By the way, Everyone here freaking loves my backpack. It's pretty sweet.) Yesterday, I went around to different hall meetings in my building to introduce myself to the students. I told them when my office hours are and where they can find me. One of my staff members looked at me and asked if I was trying to "relate to the kiddos" because I showed up in my incredible hulk t-shirt. I didn't do it on purpose, but it worked and some students struck up a conversation with me about Marvel after seeing it. (Jokes on you, staff member. I am relatable. =P) This evening while I was in my apartment, I heard this annoying chirping. I opened my door and found out I wasn't crazy. I was hearing a cricket (from god knows where) and the sound was echoing in the lobby. Two students saw me leave my apartment and asked me twenty one questions. (Clearly they missed their hall meetings yesterday...) They were so intrigued that I lived in an apartment and wanted to know how long I was an RA. I tried to explain that I am an RC, which means I oversee the RAs and the building, but they did not understand. "So, how long have you been an RA?" "Uh, I was an RA for three years at my previous institution and now I'm an RC here." "You were an RA as a freshman?" "No, I started my sophomore year like most others." "Oh, so you're a fifth year?" "No, I have a bachelor's degree..." "Oh... weird. You look so young." And that my friends is how most of my interactions at PhilaU play out.

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Today one of my supervisors said he asked his students what a PhilaU party looks like. They responded with "a Temple party or sometimes a Drexel party." I couldn't help but to think back to my time at Arcadia where anyone who ever wanted to party either went to Towers or Temple. Small institutions have many things in common, including where their students go to parties, apparently.

I've found myself making comparisons to Arcadia so often because that's all that I know. It's hard for me to remember that this is not Arcadia, no matter how similar it feels. This is PhilaU and things are different yet the same. Protocols are similar, but also very different. I keep catching myself saying "see at Arcadia we did x y and z" and that is something I want to stop.

I cherished my time at Arcadia, but now I am moving on to bigger and better things, which I honestly would not be doing without my experiences I had there. It's a bittersweet time that I am living in now: nostalgic for my college days yet dreaming of my future in residence life. It is weird to think that I've been out of college for over a year now and I've finally figured out what I want to do I've figured out the path I want to take. Undergrad was great (I truly loved being an art major), but here's to the future and (hopefully) grad school!

Q: Cool backpack, where'd ya get it?
A: WalMart