Arrival

I got here with my life in boxes. I was with my family. So were hundreds of other college freshmen. The campus was new to me, the buildings grand in that way things you're just becoming acquainted with are. There was no Knowledge Center, Joe Crowley Student Union, Davidson Math And Science Center. Getchell Library was still open and the Jot Travis building had the words "Student Union" written on the side. Bush was still deep in office, and I was a psychology major coming to college with my then girlfriend of two years.

Nye Hall is 8 stories tall. The bathrooms had no windows at the time. I lived on floor 8 west. Room 857. (Or at least I think that was my room. I know I lived in 357 the next year, so perhaps I've forgotten which room was mine.)

Check in was a foreign experience. I was being entrusted with my first home away from home. I and my parents moved my things into my room. It was empty. I had papers on my desk. I had boxes of belongings.

When my parents left I was alone in my room. No words can really describe that feeling. That freedom, that fear. I guess that moment informs the rest of my stay. It really explains why I sought out the Young Democrats and The Nevada Sagebrush.

It was white. It was quiet. I wanted to cry. It didn't seem real.