TEEN CENTER :: COLLEGE CENTER :: FRESHMAN JOURNAL

March 2003

It's Over?
Already?

By Caitlin Noris
Special to The Wall Street Journal

I spent weeks anticipating Spring Break. After all, I was flying south to visit my mom in Miami, and I was also meeting up with some friends for a road trip. It felt like it took ages to get to go on break, and then it was suddenly over. Before I even knew it, I was back at school getting ready to finish my first year in college.

It's a really strange feeling to know that the year is coming to a close. After all, I feel like I just got here. Only seven months ago, I was staring at my empty dorm room wondering how the University expected us to live in such a small space. I had no idea how to register for classes or where I could go to get a good meal. I didn't know any of the other people on my floor besides my roommate. I couldn't even figure out how to open my mailbox at first.

Now I only have a month to go, and I'm incredibly sad that this experience is almost over. I've come to love my small room; it seems to fit us just right. I've learned to schedule my classes so I don't have to go to classes on Tuesdays or Thursdays. I figured out that there is no place on campus to get a good meal. Most importantly, I found some amazing friends and made some great memories.

Don't get me wrong-I am really looking forward to my sophomore year. I'm pretty much done with my general education requirements, so I get to take more classes in my majors. I know the ropes of the University pretty well, and I know which professors I should avoid. Even though I'm attached to my dorm room, it will be much better next year when I'm in an apartment with three of my good friends.

This year was so incredibly unique and amazing, and I'll never be able to be a freshman in college again. I think I was so caught up in the schoolwork, the parties, and the friends that I forgot to pause and appreciate it all. So even though I'm really stressed over the final exams, I'm trying to savor each moment. Just as it is all ending, I think I'm only starting to realize how special the experience was.

Caitlin Noris, originally from Miami, Fla., is a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh. Her Freshman Journal will be updated periodically on the Classroom Edition Web site.