1A (September - December 2016)
The journey begins.
First semester is unsurprisingly defined by change and new circumstances. Dorm life wasn’t quite like the movies but it was undoubtedly a worthwhile experience. There is a tempting convenience in being able to wake up 10 minutes before class and still make it on time. My residence’s common area was usually pretty lively and I quickly levelled up my ping pong skills over countless games played there. Residence cafeterias are often the punchline of jokes but I personally loved the food in the cafeteria, maybe too much since my semester meal plan ran out by mid October even after choosing the largest meal plan option. Curry Tuesdays, stir fry Fridays, my daily breakfast omelette wrap with smoothie, and the sometimes available curly fries were things I could look forward to during the day to day.
I always loved the fall semesters for the reason that they always felt the most eventful. I think this is largely in part due to the weather and how the semester starts at the tail end of summer and ends in knee deep snow. In memory, it feels a lot longer than four months.
I especially felt this “lengthier” semester in 1A during Thanksgiving break (mid October in Canada) when I left Waterloo for half a week. Though I had only been at university for a month and a half, I had developed a serious case of “campus bubble” - the phenomenon of forgetting about the outside world after spending all your time in the closed ecosystem of a school campus. Maybe this wouldn’t have been as severe had I lived in one of the residence buildings located partly within the city of Waterloo itself (as opposed to fully enclosed in the campus as mine was), or if I had to go to the grocery store to cook for myself, or if I even just read the news of the “outside” world time to time. Whatever the cause, it wasn’t until Thanksgiving break that I realized I hadn’t interacted with someone without an affiliation with my university in six weeks.
Though the half week away from Waterloo was not long, it was a much needed touch with “reality” and a reminder of what life is outside of school. I returned to Waterloo with a refreshed energy to persevere through a challenging course load, a few extra pounds of turkey weight in my stomach, and a bag of apples, picked as a Thanksgiving activity. I sat them front and centre on my dorm room shelf, radiating as a much treasured symbol of the world beyond the borders of the University of Waterloo. Oh man were those apples delicious.
As the semester progressed, I grew to have a greater appreciation of routine. Routines often carry negative connotations of ruts and mundanity and while this reputation at times is well earned, I came to see that certain routines can also serve as connective narrative tissue, something to ground oneself when feeling adrift. In my life, these routines have been running and violin. Though I had already declared a minor in music, in my first semester, the only real commitment to music in my life was a music theory class I was taking. It was only a twice weekly 90 minute class, but it quickly became the class I looked forward to the most, due in large part to the fantastic instruction from Terry Paynter.
I strongly remember the first time walking to this class. The music department at Waterloo is housed in Conrad Grebel, an independent university college, now strongly affiliated with the University of Waterloo (but for all intents and purposes, part of UW). There are three of these affiliated university colleges all located together, about a 10 minute walk from the main UW student centre on the opposing side of a dividing river. This walk from main campus to the colleges would later go on to be a defining ritual throughout university, providing needed respite in stressful times.
Starting at the aggressively brutalist and vividly grey Math and Computers building, there’s swarms of people, scents of cheap Jamaican Patties and stress, and the ringing buzz of assignment related chatter. From there, walking past the Student Life Centre, you arrive at Ring Road, the guitar body shaped road that encloses the main UWaterloo campus. Jaywalking past Ring Road, there’s a small arched bridge that goes over a steady stream lined with various shrubs, and suddenly campus feels very different. It’s noticeably quieter, you can hear the rustling of critters on leaves, the honks of geese mucking about and even the white noise of the wind.
The walk then leads through a covered path that passes St. Jerome’s (one of the university colleges) courtyard, particularly beautiful in light snowfall. After this part, there’s a large grass clearing with an old tree overhanging the intersection that splits to the other university colleges. At this point, there is stark contrast from the frantic energy of the main campus as you overlook a long path leading to the doors of Grebel, hardly occupied. The few people you do walk past by and large are very friendly and a smile and head nod is the norm. Right outside Grebel, there is an outdoor beach volleyball net, campfire, basketball court, and ring of rocks for seating, and these facilities see frequent use during the warmer months.
During my first time taking this walk, I was struggling with the loss of my previous routines and trying to feel “like myself” in a sea of new circumstances. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was then forming a new routine that I would later come to look back on with similar nostalgia. I look back on much of first year with this ironic lens now and this type of experience came to be a recurring area of growth throughout university as a whole - being able to recognize current moments as future sentimental memories and thus, developing a greater appreciation for the present.
Scattered memories:
- Waking up 10min before class, going to class in slides and sweatpants, and then going back for a nap in the 30min break between classes
- Assignment due on Halloween and staying in the entire night trying to finish it while having major FOMO
- Using the practice rooms at Grebel and escaping everything for a short while
- XC team shenanigans
- Going to watch CWOSSA XC and seeing old high school team
- Late night assignment grind in Davis Centre with study group
- Hearing another person on residence floor playing violin and becoming pals
- Bechtel Park morning practices
- Utter devastation when the one person I had been working with for CS145 decided to drop the class
- Trump election and the total chaos of the residence watching the results unfold in the common areas, hearing “Trump Train” being chanted through the hallways at night while trying to sleep
- Making cringe group project video in SPCOMM
Classes took:
- Math145 w/ Stephen New
- Brutal class, felt anxious going to every lecture
- Math147 w/ Brian Forrest
- CS145 w/ Gordon Cormack
- Day before the 2016 USA election, we were shown a fancy machine learning tool and how it predicted with 95% “certainty” that Trump would not win, awkward following class
- Music 270 w/ Terry Paynter
- SPCOMM223 w/ Karen Lazar
- Total disaster of a class, basically just watching and discussing TED talks
Songs:
- Closer - The Chainsmokers
- This was almost always playing in the residence cafeteria dear god
- Relapse - Shawn Hook
- Orientation Math dance song, still triggers a flight or fight response
- Joanne & Just Another Day - Lady Gaga
- Listened to the whole album a fair bit
The first winter break back home after starting university is unique in that for many, it’s where new and old collide for the first time. Although Waterloo is not far from my hometown, I had not been back home since starting school. Old habits and routines fall back into place quickly and for brief moments, I had completely forgotten about life in Waterloo. Hanging out with friends back home and trading stories about how our first semesters had gone gave me a much needed sense of community and that I wasn’t alone in the ups and downs of it all.
The day I was due to head back to Waterloo, I had to first drop off some family at the airport. It was a melancholic winter sunset, the kind that can’t quite keep itself from being suffocated by the cold blue landscape. Its warmth is hinted at through cracks in the clouds but it can’t fully escape. And as quickly as the sunset came and went, I was back in Waterloo.
