Campus sounded different this week. When I left the dorm at 4:35 every morning, I heard birds. When I got off the bus and headed to breakfast around 7:50, I heard more birds. I couldn’t tell you what kinds of birds they were, but they were awake, and they were chirping, and I hadn’t heard them in a while.
Spring is here, and it brought two of my favorite holidays: Free Cone Day and Passover. I biked to Ben & Jerry’s on Monday for my first Free Cone Day since 2015, before things like boarding school, international travel, and a pandemic got in the way. It used to be an annual family tradition. With the extension of the Cochituate Rail Trail, the ride was much more pleasant than it was when I biked for free ice cream my first year. I absolutely booked it to beat the line. It was worth it for three scoops of non-dairy chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which I ate with my mom, who met me there.
Wednesday evening was the first night of Passover. I went to my first on-campus seder (ever), and though it wasn’t like the beloved seders of my youth, it was nice to sing familiar tunes and drink four cups of sparkling grape juice.
And yesterday, I finally experienced my first collegiate spring crew race! It was also the longest row of my life and my first time winning a race in Blue. I’m excited for some warmer mornings this week and for my boat to keep getting faster.
Tomorrow, I’m marching into uncharted territory: I’ve never been on campus past April 10 (in 2020, I was home; last year, I was in the Galapagos; and in 2021, that was the day I shipped off to Spain for term 4). This will be my first time seeing campus in bloom and feeling the energy of the end of the school year. The birds are back, and the sun has made some strong appearances, but I’m still waiting for the green to return to the landscape.
Alison and I explored some paths off the main lake path and watched the ducks and swans on the water