College in Review

Katie D.

January 1, 2009 - 6:45 PM

So. It's been quite the year, and now we're heading into 2009. Obviously I hope that each year will exceed the year before for adventure, learning, and general happiness. This last year will be a hard one to beat, though. It was a year of travel and new experiences, of starting over in some ways, because going abroad always means a break with who you have been and who you would like to be.

Also, now that I'm blogging, I'm looking back at things I have done in a new way. What, out of all these experiences, is story-worthy? Do I remember enough from these moments to make them into a blog anyone would bother to read? And, most exciting for me, the question Did all of these stories really happen to me?

I suppose the answer to this last one has to be yes. I have not blogged a single lie. But through the process of writing everything down, I have re-discovered experiences that had become a simple part of the past: not something of real interest anymore. And that, looking back at all these things I've done, is something that's got to change. Because it's been a fabulous two-and-a-half years at the University of Oregon. A time during which I have made amazing friends, discovered new depths of myself, and had the most amazing experiences I can imagine. And hopefully new experiences will just keep right on coming.

To celebrate the beginning of a new year and all that that means, I think I'll spend some time looking back at my time at college so far. Listing out some of the best things, maybe making a timeline of all the best experiences I've had could get me organized, remind me to focus on those things I've loved and to never forget the things I've learned.

So, friends, here we go.

Freshman Year highlights (2006-2007)
Fall term:
I arrive in an unfamiliar city in an unfamiliar state. My parents drive me out from Colorado, help me unpack my dorm room, and then I'm on my own. Of course I go through a bit of fear and homesickness, and spend a ton of time on the phone those first few weeks. Even when I get to be more comfortable, I stay in really close contact with my Colorado friends. But I settle into classes and Oregon life. I learn to live with a roommate who has nothing in common with me, proving that it is possible to spend eight months in close proximity and never have a conversation longer than a few minutes. I also start to form close friendships with a group of people who will eventually be my seven best friends, and become the people I spend almost all my time with. I join College Democrats and start attending the weekly meetings. I enjoy my classes, and feel challenged by the switch over to college.

Winter break:
Alternatively am overjoyed to be home in Colorado and heartbroken to be without my college friends. That didn't take long.

Winter term:
I take my first sociology class and am immediately in love. I declare a second major and get super excited about that whole option. I also start volunteering with an after-school program at an elementary school, working with kids who are behind in reading. My friend Leah comes with me and it's both a really fun volunteering opportunity and great to be working with kids. College campuses are a little lacking in the child department. My family comes to visit and takes several friends over to the coast and it's so fun to have them meet my college friends. I also visit Portland and Bend, and take my first trip to hot springs.

Spring break:
A week in Bend with a friend's long-suffering family. We hike, we watch movies, and we spend the coldest night camping of my life.

Spring term:
I take 21 credits. (Yep. 21. I would not recommend it.) I am in Spanish, Sociology, Honors History, my archeology class Traditional Technologies, the Prison Literature class (which was Honors Literature), and karate. I am completely run off my feet. But the archeology and literature classes are two of my favorite for all of college. I work really hard, but also have a wonderful time: my friends and I go to the hot springs and the coast, and begin a habit of going on late-night walks. Eugene by night is really beautiful, especially in the spring. I become even closer with my college friends, and discover that, even though 21 credits is far too many, I am also happiest and most able to appreciate everything I'm doing if I'm really busy.

Summer 2007
Highlights:
Belize mission trip with my church. Mostly high school kids, some college and some adults. We go and work for a week, building and repairing a preschool in a jungle. We sleep on the floor and work 9-10 hours a day. It is beautiful and foreign and really, really rewarding. I do lots of painting, some ceiling construction, and get to organize the kids for a tie-dye project. (More on this in a blog to come) We also spend time on the beach, which is notable for the worst sunburn of my life.

Guatemala trip. A solo journey to discover whether Spanish was worth all those long years of study. The answer is a strong yes to the worth studying question, and I also develop a strong and possibly terminal love of travel.

Sophomore Year (2007-2008)
Fall term:
I live in an apartment close to campus with my three closest guy friends. And while some people told me this could only be a disaster, it is difficult for reasons most people didn't expect (mostly because one friend had different cleanliness expectations we did, and I had no intention of doing dishes immediately after every meal. Really now). I have good classes, including another Comparative Literature class and an amazing sociology course: Systems of War and Peace. Again, I am very busy but very happy. I love my guy friends, and we spend lots of time with our other friends as well, most notably our weekly pilgrimage to the Igloo (so named because three of the four girls living there are from Alaska) for Thursday night TV. I am the recruitment co-chair for the College Democrats, and have started attending the Wesley Center, my campus Methodist group. During this term I also start the process to study abroad in the spring.

Winter break:
Again, good to be back, but increasingly my time in Colorado feels like a visit and not like coming home. But there are still lots of people I love here, and I enjoy my time spent with them.

Winter term:
Fun but super stressful. Chile plans are finalized, so lots of work with preparation. I find someone to take my room in the apartment, get things organized to move out, and try to have a great time with my friends. I am also really, really busy with classes. The highlight of this term is my Feminist Theories class through Comparative Literature. This experience is completely amazing. I continue with College Democrats and the Wesley Center, where I participate in group discussions and weekly meals. I start volunteering as a translator at Volunteers in Medicine, a free medical clinic in Eugene. I also start working as a tutor for the UO's Academic Learning Services. My mother and sister each take a trip out to see me as well, and I get to share college life with each of them. Then I move all my things to a storage unit, finish up final essays, and say goodbye to my friends, some until September and some for a year-and-a-half as they will be abroad junior year.

Spring break:
I turn twenty and desperately prepare for Chile. I shop for travel items and for needed clothing replacements. Then I bid farewell to my family and set off on my epic adventure abroad.

Chile: April-July
I fly to Santiago and take the 12 hour bus to Valdivia, where I meet my host family, the other US students in the program, and start getting to know the new city. I gradually get used to the odd Chilean accent and slang, and start making Chilean friends. I schedule four classes, all of which meet Monday-Wednesday. So I immediately start traveling during my weekends: day trips for hiking and sight-seeing, weekend-long trips to cities outside of Valdivia. All of which deserve a blog of their own. About halfway through the semester I take a solo trip to Peru for Cusco and Machu Picchu. Later I go on a road trip to Argentina with some friends. I go on a flying tour of the city in a four-seat plane. I fall completely in love with Chilean people, culture, and the country itself. I either travel or go out dancing every weekend, and date two Chilean guys. My US friends are a great group with whom I go dancing, meet in cafes in the city, and generally share a powerful love of the adventures we had together.

At the end of the semester, my parents and sister come to visit me. They meet my host family and friends and see my city, although it rains like crazy that whole week. It is so fun to play tour guide for my family: I translate, I pick food at restaurants, and I choose the places we'll visit. Leaving Valdivia is so incredibly sad. It is awful to say goodbye to that place, and to all the people I love so much from this time, this adventure. But I go North with my family to visit Santiago and Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, two cities on the Chilean coast. Here, again, I am tour guide and translator for the family, trying to keep everyone entertained and enjoying the experience. My dad and sister leave Chile to return to the States. My mom and I continue our trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. More details in a later blog.

Mom goes home, and I spend a last week in South America visiting the largest waterfalls in the world. Iguazu Falls are located in Northern Argentina, right next to Brazil and Paraguay. There are dozens of waterfalls in an amazing jungle setting, plus one huge individual fall, called the Devil's throat. The place is heart-stoppingly beautiful.

Summer 2008
I return home to the states and get adjusted to being back. I see my friends until school starts again for most of them (Oregon's university system's schedule is way different from Colorado's, so I'm always basically alone for the last month of summer). I visit the mountains and my grandmother, and spend as much time with my friends as I can. But the summer does drag quite a bit toward the end, with no friends around, family out of the house everyday, no car and no job. It is a bit grim, really. Toward the end of the summer I go to the Arizona/Mexico border with a group from my church to learn about and work with a humanitarian aid organization that works to stop migrants from dying in the desert. (See other blog)

Junior year (2008)
Fall term:
I get back to Eugene and am so, so happy to be with the friends there. Four of my best friends are abroad, but the four of us still in Eugene spend a ton of time together. I have a relatively easy class schedule and spend lots of time walking in my new neighborhood and catching up with the people I love. My new house is almost two miles from campus, with people I haven't lived with before. I attend class, I cook with apples from the neighbors' yards, and I get back into Oregon life. I am still involved at the Wesley Center and am back to working at Volunteers in Medicine. I continue to work as a tutor, and also start giving tours at the Honors College. I get hired as a blogger for the University and the rest, my friends, is history.

So here we go, 2009. We've got quite a history of great things behind us. Let's hope we can make this coming year just as amazing as those behind us.