Top 5 Moments of My First-Year
Now that I have finished my first year of Barnard, I thought that now is the perfect time to reflect back and remember some of the moments that have made my first year into one of the most memorable in my life.
Birthday Baking
October was a bit of a rough month for me, not going to lie. Everyone began to carve out a routine for themselves at Barnard, meaning the same set of familiar faces rotated through my weekly schedule like clockwork. Thanks to NSOP I knew quite a bit of people, but I really only had one close friend. This left me to worry about one important event in the month of October: my birthday. As the day approached, I couldn’t help but let worrisome thoughts flood my mind. Would I be celebrating my birthday alone? How do I casually let someone know that it is my birthday? Who would want to celebrate my birthday with me? What should I do to celebrate?If I were to tell my former self anything, it would be not to worry. The Barnard community is full of excited, compassionate people who will support and celebrate with you. One of my closest friends Natasha and I decided to bake a cake together and invite everyone who’s phone number we had. Let me preface this by saying that this was no simple box cake we made. Natasha is a baking and cooking enthusiast (watch out Martha Stewart, there’s a new upcoming Barnard chef in town!) and she decided to make a cake from scratch—chocolate cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting, to be exact. This night was one for the books. Natasha invited people she wanted me to meet alongside my other friends, and we sat in our dorm’s lounge for hours as people swung by to chat. Not only did I get to meet people who would eventually become some of my closest friends, but I felt entirely at home and in the center of an exceptionally strong community. You could call it nothing short of a success. To anyone looking for a fun and inclusive birthday activity, I highly recommend lounge-baking; we decided to repeat the event two weeks later for Natasha’s birthday.
Hair Dying Dance Party
Otherwise known as “Not Your Average Thursday Night.” Imagine returning from a long evening in the library back to your dorm. You walk up the stairs and hear the slight rumble of music playing from the hallway. As you approach your dorm, the sound grows louder and appears to be coming from the bathroom. Further investigation is needed. Right outside the bathroom, your inclination is confirmed: it’s One Direction. Upon entrance, the most Chaotic Good™ scene plays out. Floormates are singing and dancing along to music while a few are dying their hair.This is precisely how one of my fondest memories at Barnard played out. I leaned against the wall of the bathroom for about an hour chatting, singing, and dancing alongside my roommate and friends from my floor. In such a scheduled environment like college where everyone has commitments to honor and immaculate time-tables drawn up to accommodate every inch of studying and time spent at extracurriculars, it felt like a breath of fresh air to experience something so joyous and spur-of-the-moment.
Holiday Hallway Caroling
Reading week is essentially a few days of completely unstructured time before finals week starts. My roommate, a couple of her friends, and I were lounging around our dorm in our pajamas after a long day of studying, chatting casually. My roommate eventually picks up her guitar and starts playing. As the conversation meanders, we become inspired by the winter spirit and decide to make holiday cards and hand them out by knocking on people’s doors and caroling. We walked throughout the hallway singing, my roommate accompanying us on the guitar. Moments of spontaneous fun are always my favorite, and this was such a great way to decompress and be joyful in an otherwise stressful time.
Late Night Computer Lab
Perhaps a quieter moment from the semester, this moment involved me and my friend, Jasmine, working on the same project late at night in the computer lab. We were both in the same architecture class, and it was the night before our final project was due. We spent hours sitting side by side in our pajamas at the computers, giving suggestions on each other’s projects. However uneventful this moment may seem, the feeling of having a companion to talk to and work beside into the wee hours of the morning, not only spurred a close friendship but also encouraged me to persevere through the completion of my project.
Randomly Meeting of My Now Closest Friends During NSOP
Eating meals during NSOP can be described as one of those cliche high school movie moments where the new character student navigates the cafeteria on their first day of school. My strategy was to sit by a new person or group at each meal and join in on their conversation. Although it seems scary, I highly recommend doing this because people are very welcoming during orientation and it’s a great way to meet new people. This time, I sat across to a girl named Laurel, and after we started talking, it turned out we had a lot in common. Because NSOP has a lot of unstructured time, we ended up staying in the dining hall for hours until it closed. What a wonderful experience! Laurel and I are close friends to this day, and it’s surreal to think that we met out of pure luck. This moment also made Barnard feel like home because, in a room full of unfamiliar people, there was someone with whom I shared interests.
-Ellie George