From Village to Campus : My First Year

From the Village to Campus : PART ONE

Episode One : The Night It Became Real

That night, lying on a strange bed in a room I had never slept in before, I finally understood that I was on my own.

My father had already left for home.

Outside, the campus was still alive. I could hear people moving around, talking, laughing, and going about their business. There were students everywhere, but somehow I still felt alone.

I had people around me.

I just didn't know them well enough to call them friends yet.

The room was new.

The bed was new.

The environment was new.

Everything felt unfamiliar.

A few hours earlier, I had been surrounded by crowds during admission. Now I was lying quietly in my new room, trying to take in the fact that this was no longer a place I had come to visit.

This was my new life.

I had come from the village with big ambitions, goals, and huge expectations.

I had imagined college many times.

I imagined meeting new people, making friends, learning new things, experiencing a different environment, and becoming someone better than the person who had left home.

I expected something good to happen.

Automatically.

I just didn't know that my first year would teach me more about myself than any classroom ever could.

But before I understood that, I had to begin.

And my beginning had started earlier that day.

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Episode Two: Something Good Is Cooking

There were many students around during admission.

Everywhere I looked, people were moving from one place to another. Some were asking questions. Others were carrying documents. Some looked confident, while others looked just as lost as I felt.

I looked at the crowd and thought to myself:

Something good is cooking here.

I was surprisingly calm.

I wanted everything to go smoothly.

And somehow, it did.

Despite the crowd and the unfamiliar environment, I completed my admission process.

For a moment, I just took it in.

I was...