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BY JEFF DAVIDSON

In print | Published August 26, 2008 — Updated August 29, 2008 13:25

My last summer after high school was jam-packed with vacations, fast-paced adventures, and minimal relaxation time. In the end, it was a summer like any other. But every day there loomed that unthinkable change always inching closer, until finally there are less than 100 hours before I enter my first year at Swarthmore.

The days became choppier, the tension grew, and my feelings scattered. One day I was filled with enthusiasm thinking of all the wonderful people I am about to meet; the next it is a pounding fear of the academic rigor.

Everyone at this point understands the implications of living away from watchful parenting eyes. But as the time of my departure grew closer, I found myself growing more apprehensive about leaving.
I needed to research, I needed to discover, I needed answers, and I needed them now.

Unfortunately in the end this fear of not knowing only lead to more stress on that very issue.

My personal diagnosis of the problem at the time told me that I required more stuff for my room. The guest room of my house became the storage bin for my dorm “essentials.” This collection included, but clearly was not limited to, a set of seven tooth brushes, an industrial-sized Suave Men’s body wash, a stash of 357 paper Dixie cups, and a bag of bed linens and towels that could easily swallow several persons.

The closer my upstairs hallway got to impassable, the more I questioned how my delicate, simple life would handle such a drastic change filled with so many unnecessary commodities.

Faced with this challenge, I confronted it like any tech-savvy student would: I hit up the hot new MacBook Pro. The World Wide Web is a resource that, most importantly, brings people from anywhere in the world to a singular location in cyberspace.

Much of the Class of 2012 Facebook-forged connections long before orientation to a debacle I am sure the Swarthmore ITS and administration could never have imagined. A team of to-be Swattie Facebook friends took their summer-time fun to the next level when they decided to figure out, through several completely legal and not-so-aptly named “hacks,” their rooms and roommates several weeks early.

Unfortunately for myself, I was one of the students who could not find their phone number after the college pulled them from MySwarthmore. It took another insufferable week of waiting before I finally received my room assignment.

After perusing Swarthmore.edu and the College Prowler’s guide, it started getting hard to believe I would retain all of this advice. In addition, every single person I talked to wanted to help me out — my mind still clouds just thinking about it.

I probably know the core requirements for just about every major you could possibly want. I know that we will be watching “The Graduate” the night before classes. I look forward to yelling “safety school!” at Swarthmore-Haverford games and I have made judgements against the Springfield Mall before even setting foot in the parking lot. The last few weeks felt like I was double-teamed by Faulkner and Joyce, with one yelling “You don’t know me!” and the other saying “Down, weakling! Down!”

But with this knowledge one must wonder where the line is to be drawn. No matter how much I prepare for this great step, some things will always be forgotten, some things will go wrong, and some things will not be what I expect them to be.

In fact, most of the college experience is about stepping up and making informed decisions by yourself. If anything I have learned that making friends early and being open are the most important aspects of beginning the college career.

Beyond that, most of what I learned through countless hours of research will mean nothing when I get to campus. Lessons learned through experience will easily replace any knowledge obtained from articles.

Realizing that is almost as good as, say, figuring out that first-years can access the off-campus Cisco VPN network, cross-reference their assigned phone number with a directory of where the line goes to get their dorm room, and then search endlessly on the Facebook group for that match we call a roommate.

I don’t know though … maybe it’s not quite that good.

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