Katie’s Big Adventure East Coast School Offers Challenges, Opportunities For This Spokane Teen
“Now where is it you go to college?”
“Haverford College.”
“Harvard. Oh, that’s nice.”
“No, Haverford College. It’s outside of Philadelphia.”
I’ve learned quickly to introduce my new school with a geographic reference because few people have heard of this liberal arts college and even fewer know where it is.
So how did I ever discover this well-kept secret? I have no relatives on the East Coast and before visiting Haverford for the first time, I had never been east of the Mississippi except for an airplane layover. I found it in a college guide and was drawn to it immediately. I figured there was no better time than the college years to explore new turf.
In late August, I left my family, friends, home and most all that was familiar to me to go to college. I will admit that I was mildly frightened but the excitement overcame that fear.
When I decided to go to school far away, I accepted the fact that weekend visits and free phone calls were out of the question. Still, leaving my friends and family at the airport was not exactly a dry-eyed moment.
But once I arrived at school, homesickness did not seem to be an issue.
I soon discovered I was not alone. Three hundred freshman joined me, and they could easily be distinguished by the timid “hi’s” they quickly uttered - loud enough to be heard by another set of alert freshman ears but quiet enough to be ignored by the rest of the world.
For the first week, I joined a “Customs Group” of 16 freshmen and four upperclassmen for an orientation packed full of dances, name games, dorm Olympics, tours of campus, class selection, introductions to the college’s alcohol policy and Honor Code, and the ever-famous freshman-class tradition of waking up the Haverford president at some insane hour of the morning using the “Primal Scream.”
With one semester now under my belt, I recognize our president other than in his bathrobe on his front porch at 3 a.m. or in a toga carrying a torch for dorm Olympics. I can find my way around campus blindfolded, I have seen the Honor Code work in an almost utopian environment of trust, and I have gotten to know the people in my Customs Group inside and out.
One of the initial shocks of college was the workload. I worked hard in high school, but because Haverford is ranked as one of the toughest liberal arts colleges in the country, I expected to be challenged.
Well, I am. I am amazed daily by the uniformly high intelligence of my classmates; I am still occasionally overwhelmed by the work asked of me. I have learned that, unlike high school, A’s are almost impossible to come by in college. I have found that in my French, English and art classes of 15 to 20 students, skipping class in college just isn’t an option.
But I’ve learned a lot. I adored my slightly neurotic, yet brilliant and kind professor of English. Every day in class (or in our five-student writing tutorial) Professor Finley ignited incredible discussions. At the end of the semester, he had my classmates and me over to dinner at his house.
A large part of the learning I have experienced at college, however, has not come from the classroom. Living with classmates 24 hours a day has forced me to develop friendships I may not have formed in high school. In my Customs Group alone, I spend time with a first-generation Indian-American from New York City; a soft-spoken, first-generation Chinese-American girl from Philadelphia’s Chinatown; an upper-classman from Haiti; three Jewish students; two kids from inner-city Philadelphia, and people from across the country and Europe.
Despite our different backgrounds, study (or non-study) habits, levels of alcohol or drug consumption, sleeping patterns, and musical volume preferences, we live well together and, on the whole, enjoy one another’s company immensely. Despite the many generalizations about the cold demeanors of Easterners, on a college campus even the most paranoid New Yorker is looking for a friend.
One social division I have found disturbing, however, is race, particularly for African-Americans. I could be overly sensitive of this issue because one of my roommates is African-American, but when I walk into my school’s dining center or other places of blue-collar employment in the area, I am disturbed by the high percentage of black employees who are serving a largely white clientele.
Haverford, despite economic, religious, social and some racial diversity, is still a very “white” world. Although there seems to be a high degree of acceptance on this liberal campus, I have watched my black roommate struggle in this new environment. Coming from a primarily black school and neighborhood in Philadelphia, and having grown up in the East where racial divisions are far more apparent, she seems to be extremely wary of white students. After my many efforts to establish trust between the two of us, I am now reluctantly aware that, at this point in our lives, I can only be viewed as a roommate and not as a friend.
For the most part, the social environment is positive. I work hard, but I play hard, too. Because the school is so small, students can generally make any sports team if they are willing to dedicate their time. I play on the tennis team during the spring and fall.
Because my roommate and I have a computer that is networked to send electronic mail (a prized hobby of the common college student), we have found our room to be a magnet for friends. This leads to a pattern of late nights and another common college student trait - sleep deprivation.
Haverford kids’ weekends are usually spent on campus, where drinking is prevalent. That may be attributable to the “work hard, play hard” attitude of a rigorous liberal arts school or to the accessibility of alcohol on this campus, where the security prefers to be seen as trusted helpers rather than as a mini KGB.
For those whose central focus is not the keg, there’s plenty of entertainment, from student drama to dance to free movies or simply a group of friends interested in talking into the wee hours of the night.
One big plus for Haverford is its proximity to Philadelphia. A 15-minute train ride brings me to the center of the city. By going into Philly to make drawings for art class, to visit museums and the zoo, to volunteer for the Virginia Slims Tennis Tournament or simply to wander, I’ve opened a whole new world. I’ve mastered the train schedules, figured out how to eat and play inexpensively and I know not to pull out a map on any old corner to advertise my disorientation nor to smile and look every stranger in the eye.
College is not all peaches and cream. Much of the change and growth that occurred in my life over the past semester involved mistakes. But, looking back, it has been well worth it. I am experiencing new freedoms ranging from the classes I choose to the independence in my living situation. I am meeting new people and seeing things I could never encounter in the Western states. I feel part of a community, despite my independence.
Of course, there’s always homesickness. But, aside from the security in knowing that visiting home is an option, it seems to make little difference whether one goes to school 30 or 3,000 miles away. College life is time consuming and leaves little opportunity for visits home, even for my friends who live 15 minutes away in Philadelphia.
This is not to say my phone bill wasn’t a little large at times or that I didn’t check my campus mail or electronic mailbox daily. Or that I wasn’t extremely excited to come home.
I was relieved to see, despite our time apart, I was still a regular part of the family and that my high school friends were the same great pals with much of the same jokes and interests.
When I came back for winter break, I thought few cities could be as wonderful as my beautiful Spokane.
People ask me if I’ll stay in the East. I doubt it, but only time will tell. For the next four years, however, I’m glad to call myself a “Ford.”
MEMO: Katie Quirk is a 1994 graduate of Saint George’s School. She wrote for Our Generation for two years before leaving for college.