“Are you kidding me? It’s so neat in here,” my friend Tyler said upon seeing my room for the first time.
I’ve always planned everything — from school, homework, meetings and extracurricular activities to when I eat, shower and catch up with friends.
Since there are only four weeks left in the semester until graduation, I decided that I would truly make the best of my quickly dwindling time at college.
Last weekend I went on my first impromptu adventure to Waterbury with my friends Amber and Meaghan. We started with a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory. I had been there once before when I first came to visit St. Mike’s. The smell of the sweet cream and sugar overwhelmed us as we happily sampled Triple Caramel Crunch.
Next, we went to Cold Hollow Cider Mill for the first time to taste fresh cider. Of course we couldn’t leave without buying apple cider donuts, which immediately brought me back to fall even though it was nearly 45 degrees outside — the first taste of spring in Vermont.
Finally, we went to the Cabot store to sample some cheese. I love cheese and could probably live on it. American, cheddar, sharp — you name it — I love them all.
I tried Everything Bagel cheese for the first time, which I’ll admit I was skeptical about. I was so surprised that it actually tasted like an authentic everything bagel, complete with onion, garlic and poppy seeds. I was so excited that I had to text my brother and inform him of this find.
When we returned to campus, Amber and I went for a run to justify all of the foods we had sampled earlier that day. That weekend I didn’t do any homework and instead chose to enjoy myself by relaxing with friends.
To continue with my newfound live-it-up attitude, I chose to give up sleep this week in an attempt to get ahead on my work. I don’t actually know how little sleep I got, but I can say that I got kicked out of the library at closing time two nights in a row. I saw 1 a.m. five days in a row, a new record of mine.
Part of the reason I have so much work is because I’m going on the LEAP retreat this weekend and will be without electronics and time to spend on my studies. I also just began writing my senior thesis, a daunting task, but one I’m very excited about.
Even though I’ve always tried to plan everything in my life, knowing that I have endless obligations my last weeks at college make me nostalgic about the freedom I had freshman year.
I’m glad Tyler opened my eyes to the rigid and constant structure of my life before it was too late to enjoy everything this time has to offer. Sometimes, we all need to remember to let loose and have fun.
First Time Fridays 