Last year at this same exact time, I was just beginning my freshman year. We all remember what our first week was like. Whether we loved it or hated it, it’s fresh in our memories. Some people would describe that week, known as Welcome Week, as the best week of their lives. However I truly believed I had done something wrong and God had punished me and put me in hell. I lived in an 8 by 8 cell with two total strangers. Although I only lived an hour away, I missed home, my friends, my boyfriend and my own bathroom. I was constantly miserable and of course, my parents said that I would “adjust.” I was constantly wishing I had gone to a school closer to home, a school where I could have brought my car, pretty much anywhere but here. For most freshmen, these are all normal feelings for the first few weeks, for others, it extends for a few months. I secretly harbored fears that it would last all four years (I don’t plan on doing co-op). As the fall quarter progressed into the winter and then the spring, my worst fear seemed close to becoming my reality. School for me was not the escape to freedom that it was for some. In fact, quite the opposite was true. I felt most free when I took the one hour train ride each Friday afternoon to spend the weekend at my true home where my family and friends eagerly awaited me each week. Finally after a long, lonely winter, a miracle occurred. I had attended a leadership training program sponsored by Northeastern at the insistence of my residence director. As much as I hated life at Northeastern, I did not want to sit in my (very small) room and sulk. I tried to get as involved as I could. I was the secretary of my hall council and an active member of the Resident Student Association. Both my residence directors in my building recommended that I attend Leadership Education and Growth Opportunities (LEGO), the leadership program, because of the opportunities on campus that it provided. It was on that retreat that I met some of the best friends I think I will ever have, people who felt the same way I did, people who understood me. It was an amazing feeling and an even more amazing weekend. Fast forward to the beginning of sophomore year and I found myself surprisingly enough not dreading my return to school, but actually I was genuinely excited. I was out of the freshmen dorms which I consider a form of underclassmen torture. I have an amazing on-campus apartment with three of the best girls I’ve ever known. Last Sunday when I walked into my apartment for the first time and saw the familiar faces of my roommates, I finally felt like I was home. We cook dinner together every night, talk about our day, help each with class work, stay up late every night talking for hours and it just seems that no matter what happens, things are never bad when you have people to share it with. I guess my road has finally come full circle and I don’t think I could be happier. Actually, if I just lived here with my friends and we didn’t have classes that would be even better, but I guess you take the good with the bad. I want to give hope to those of you, especially freshmen, who are miserable and want to go home. I’ve been there and I promise, if you just stick it out, next year will be so much better. At the very least, you don’t have to share a bathroom with 40 other people. That’s good enough for me.

-Kristin Scaduto is a sophomore political science major