You might be expecting that we post about the first week of school. I guess that’s important. But, in order to reflect upon my first week here, I’m going to take you back to last Friday night. Let’s hope I remember mine better than Katy Perry.
And by last Friday night, I mean last Friday. I got on campus at essentially 12 am. I then spent time with one of my favorite people until 3 am. It was wonderful. Even though I knew I had numerous others to visit, spending those three hours with him was much needed and appreciated. We interpretive danced on his balcony, fell out of the hammocks in the new hammock garden, and tried to cool down my room by flinging open all possible doors and windows.
After about six hours of sleep, I got up to go to Disneyland (as mentioned in a previous post). As I was trying to leave, I discovered my car was dead and all my friends with cars were inaccessible (most in sponsor training from 8 am to 9 pm). I then waited for AAA. In the meantime, an older gentleman leaving campus from a tennis match with a friend paused his car next to mine and asked if I was alright and if someone was coming to help. I greatly appreciate the people of Claremont.
After an hour and a half wait and a completely new battery, I was off to Disneyland. It was a very fun day, but I’m here to talk about my experiences at Pomona. When I returned, I visited several friends who are sponsors, and then decided to go to the Scripps Carnival with a fellow sophomore.
The Scripps Carnival is the first of the awkward orientation parties, where first years (and transfers) from all the Claremont Colleges are given the opportunity to mix and mingle (and be awkward). I personally loved it last year, because talking to so many new people was a lot of fun for me. Apparently not everyone feels that way. And now, here my friend and I are, and we’re sophomores. So what do we do? Pretend to be freshmen.
We first met Emily from Scripps, from Portland (NW represent!), who accepted her awkwardness and decided to make fun of it. Probably the best approach, since I considered her to be doing really well at interacting. The trouble came when we actually started talking to a first year from Pomona, Dan. He asked what Orientation Adventure we were on, and my friend said “Sea Kayaking,” because that’s what he was on last year. Dan responded, “That’s weird, I don’t remember seeing you there…” I skirted the issue with a quick, “Oh, I wasn’t on Sea Kayaking, I went to Yosemite” (which is true), while my friend tried to come up with the excuse of, “Oh, we were probably in different groups…”
I eventually just felt too guilty about lying to innocent, overloaded first years, and came clean to everyone we attempted to hoodwink. I think they appreciated it. We definitely got a good laugh. It was also funny/encouraging to see first years being ridiculously enthusiastic about their new life at the Claremont Colleges. I know I certainly was, and I think they have quite a few reasons to be. For example: Pesto Party at Pomona’s Organic Farm today, followed by the SCC Kick-Off and Coop Store Grand Reopening. Oh, and you can’t forget all the great intellectual students, professors, and classes.