Wel-Comm. Ave!!
September 30, 2021
By Faisal Ahmed
Have you ever wandered around the streets on Google Maps? Don’t lie. We’ve all dropped that little yellow individual on some street, and started roaming. Oh, this is where the basketball court is?! That’s the school. Good looks. It’s an eerie feeling, and sometimes you’d catch interesting moments in the background, and those are even funnier to search up. I encourage you to go down the internet rabbit hole of funny google map screenshots.
Without getting too sidetracked though, if you were one of the people who decided to be on campus last year, it kind of felt like that. Our beloved Commonwealth Avenue wasn’t BUstling like it is now. It was empty. eerie. Any walk along the street and you might catch some interesting moments in the background, but the exciting college life we all expect while watching the college vlogs and decision reactions before arriving were nowhere to be seen.
As a freshman the only social life I knew was getting dinner with my roommates, not being able to sit down in the seatless dining hall booths, then returning to our rooms where we ate, slept, and attended classes. If we felt adventurous we’d venture out to the esplanade where an RA didn’t have to yell at us for hanging out with people who weren’t our roommates. Each excursion raised heart rates, as we tried to make sure our records stayed clean. It all made sense. It helped keep us safe. But it wasn’t what we expected.
I won’t be a “Debbie Downer” though, if it hadn’t been for COVID I probably wouldn’t have had such a strong connection with my roommates, who have become some of my best friends away from home. Yes, we didn’t really get to party, but we played board games, and you know what I’d rather do every time if it’s with those guys. But it still wasn’t what we expected.
We expected to move-in, and be able to go out; to make friends in classes, other dorms, and other rooms; to eat together and meet people in dining halls; to be able to make the relationships people say will last a lifetime. College is supposed to be a place where you can finally figure out who you are, without the direct supervision of parents or authority figures. You figure out how you handle being responsible for yourself in a way most of us never had the opportunity to experience. How do you do that through a computer screen?
I don’t think you can. I think it takes meeting each other, being able to laugh with each other and make connections with each other. Because relationships and community motivate action. It’s hard to work if you don’t know who or what you’re working for. Now, we see them every day. They fill the street. We’re working for and with each other. Each person in class motivates me to be there too. We get to have dinner, make relationships, in ways that allow us to display our authentic selves. It’s exciting, and it’s what we expected. Wel-Comm. Ave back everybody!