Cole Evans
September 24th, 2014
12 Part Essay
College Writing I
Prof. Stockwell

A New Era
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“The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings.” Dave Weinbaum

One Last Wake Up Call The sharp sound of my mother’s voice cut through my shield of sleep, abruptly jerking me awake. “Cole! Wake up!” Any other morning my usual routine would be to just completely ignore her, pull the pillow over my head and roll back to sleep, but this wasn’t just any other morning. This morning was determined as the end of my childhood and the start of my collegiate career and, evidently, the rest of my life. The sound of my mother’s voice filled me with both a sense of melancholy and excitement. I was about to leave everything that I had ever known behind and strike out on my own. The events of this day had been played out over and over again in my mind for months now, but little did I know that things rarely happen how you expect them to. Being the first to arrive at the dorm means getting the pick of the litter in regards to which bed I wanted. I chose the one by the window. That first day of college was nothing more than an exhausting blur. Everything I experienced was completely new; every building, every face, every name. I didn’t know anybody, and by the end of the day I could barely even remember my own name, let alone the names of the people I was supposed to live with for the next year.
A Whole New World I woke up the next morning to find my world completely changed. I was in a brand new environment, laying on a foreign bed, surrounded by strangers who I was now expected to live with. I laid there a while, trying to grasp hold of the fact that I was now totally and completely independent. From now on, I was expected to do everything myself. I was on my own, and it was time I learned how to handle that. That first day I met a multitude of very new and very different people, but it wasn’t until this second day that I was to decipher which of these people were to become the ones I would be spending most of my time with. The first of which being one of my roommates, Nnamdi. We quickly bonded over our similar personalities and a vast amount of shared common interests. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment achieved on that second day was my familiarization of the campus. I quickly realized just how big the University I chose to attend was. Discovering where my classes were, what the quickest way to get there was and where I could find food at all times proved to be a bit of a challenge, but with the help of my roommates, we eventually managed to successfully learn how to navigate ourselves about the campus.
Sleepless in Lowell For some reason, I retained the false belief that college would offer me more of an opportunity to sleep in than high school did. I quickly discovered that this was not the case. “Wake up!” The familiar yet now somehow different call cut through my sleep once again, yet this time it was accompanied by a loud and obnoxious banging on the door. The Residential Advisors in my dorm decided to wake everybody up so that we all could enjoy a nice breakfast together before attending the University’s convocation. Convocation wasn’t scheduled to start until noon, so I went to sleep the night before content with the thought that I wouldn’t have to leave my bed until around 11 the next morning. Unfortunately, I received nothing but a rude wake up call. I guess I would have to save sleeping in for the next morning.
Food for Thought Wrong again. Once again, the obnoxious door banging interrupted my peaceful sleep. This time, however, it was ultimately for no reason. Someone in the dorm had parked in a spot that they were not supposed to, so the RA’s felt it was necessary to wake up the entire building in order to figure out who it was. No one was pleased, but luckily I was able to go back to bed shortly after. When I woke up, I went downstairs with Nnamdi to get some breakfast. It was there that he introduced me to his hometown friend Arik, a commuter student. Arik, along with Nnamdi, would soon become one of my better friends here. Shortly after meeting Arik, I witnessed him experience an embarrassing yet hilarious incident. Arik, excited about the fact that he had just helped himself to a large plate full of food, turned around just as a girl decided to cross behind him. Of course, as luck would have it, they collided, and Arik’s food quickly became that girl’s outfit for the day. “What the hell are you doing!?” She screamed at him as his plate clattered to the floor. “Watch where you are going!” The poor girl then turned around and stalked off, fuming and covered head to toe in the special of the day. Try as we might, Nnamdi and I just couldn’t stop ourselves from collapsing into a heap of laughter.
Left-Brain Oriented 8 o’clock AM rolled around a whole lot faster than I expected it to. I forced myself out of bed, despite the knot that was forming in my stomach. I really was not looking forward to going to my first college class, due to the fact that it just so happened to be subject I struggled the most with; English. The class was College Writing, and I was dreading it. As the minutes ticked by, my thoughts started to drift towards my next class, Management Pre-Calculus. When College Writing finally ended, I silently breathed a sigh of relief, pushed myself out of my seat and began to make my way towards the math building. The thought of Pre-Calc didn’t bother me in the slightest. Compared to other subjects, I love math. Something about the substantiality of it, the way an answer is either right or wrong, no room for any grey area, thats what I like. A definite answer, not a plausible one.
Psychological Subconscious “Good morning students!” my psychology was irritatingly peppy for 8 o’clock in the morning, and he received nothing but sighs and moans in reply to his greeting. It was obvious that although every student’s body was present, they were mentally still curled up, sound asleep in their beds.
Homesick for Bed After a long day of classes, I finally found myself back in my room. I let out a satisfied sigh of relief as I dropped my backpack on the floor, kicked my shoes off and crawled into bed. Just as I was about to drift into a much needed nap, the loud ringing of my phone jolted me awake.
“Hi Cole! How’s everything going?” It was my mom. She wanted to catch up. “Hey Mom. Everything’s great. It’s a bit of an adjustment, but nothing I can’t handle.” I mumbled in reply, still half asleep.
“That’s great to hear. How are your classes? Do you like them?” she asked.
“I like most of them.” I answered. “The only downfall is the fact that I have to wake up early… every single morning…”
My mom’s familiar laugh echoed through the phone. “Wow, that must be rough for you.” She teased, fully aware of my fondness for sleeping in. I grunted back a response and smiled despite of myself before hanging up the phone and allowing my body to indulge in the sleep that it yearned for.
Throwback Thursday
The event of my sister’s wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to enjoy a nice 3-day weekend. After my classes on Thursday, I packed up my things and headed home.
My sister was finally marrying the man she had been with for six years, and I could not be happier for them. They decided to bestow the honor of ‘best man’ on me, which just added even more to the excitement that already accompanies a wedding.
Thursday night was the rehearsal dinner, and as the best man I was required to be there. I had an incredible time eating amazing food and catching up with old friends I hadn’t seen in years.
We ordered many delicious flatbread pizzas. The restaurant smelled of fresh dough in the oven. The ambiance was incredible. The lighting was dim yet bright enough to illuminate all of the faces around the table. When the pizzas came out, my mouth began to water. The taste of a warm crispy crust paired with stringy buttery cheese melts in the mouth.
Mr. & Mrs. Friday morning came with the chance I had been waiting for all week, the chance to sleep in. I slept long, and I slept peacefully, but when I woke, my house was in utter chaos. The bridesmaids were having a fit trying to get ready on time for the wedding, and everyone I encountered seemed to be stressed out about one thing or another. Feeling refreshed after my uninterrupted night of sleep, being stressed out seemed almost impossible for me. It only takes me about twenty minutes to get myself ready so, I really wasn’t too concerned. “Do you have your speech memorized?” My sister’s fiancé asked me as I watched the chaos continue to ensue. “Nope, not at all.” I replied, slightly embarrassed. I had written my speech down on paper because I knew for a fact that when I got up there in front of everyone, I wouldn’t remember a word. Having to give the ‘best man’ speech was the only thing remotely stressing me out that morning. Later on that evening, I watched my sister take her first step towards the rest of her life. “Lindsey, do you take Tyler to be your lawfully wedded husband?” The priest asked. “I do,” my sister answered, tears welling in her eyes. “Tyler, do you take Lindsey to be your lawfully wedded wife?” “I do,” he said, unable to contain the grin that broke across his face. “You may now kiss the bride.” All of our family and friends erupted in applause as the two confirmed their marriage with a ceremonious kiss. It was a moment I would never forget. As everyone returned to home for the reception, the food began to be served. As people finished up, I became uncomfortably aware of the face that it was almost time for me to make my speech. At first I was a bit starstruck, but as the nerves began to settle I delivered my speech with few impediments and successfully achieved both the laughter and the love I was hoping for. At the conclusion of my speech, champagne was toasted, and the party began.
Dirty Laundry I brought all of my dirty laundry home just like every other college student. The first thing I thought about when I woke up was making sure my laundry was finished before I went back to school that evening. Thankfully my loving mother had already done that for me and all of my clothes were clean.
United In Blue It felt great to be back at school. Even though I had only been home for a few days, I already missed all my new friends that I made. The first thing I did when I arrived back to school was go to a soccer game. It was my first sporting event I would attend at the University and it was a great experience. The River Hawks were playing the Red Foxes of Marist College. I do not have a great knowledge for soccer but I started to pick things up fast. As the game went on I learned more and more and became very excited about what was happening on the field. The River Hawks eventually won the match by one goal.
College Writing On my twelfth day of college, I received my first big writing assignment. The assignment was a twelve-part paper, and it frightened me. Writing has never interested me. I was informed I had to pick an idea or topic that came in a group of twelve and then write a section on each of the twelve parts. I struggled at first trying to pick a topic, after the topic was chosen; the essay seemed to breeze by.