Hello, College!

Hello, hallowed walls, hallowed halls.
Clock tower, bell tower,
Traditions rising strong.
You have much to teach me, but I have more.

All I have brought is myself and some dorm decor,
But you have so much for this little mind of mine.
I'll grow as a person.
I'll grow as a student.

My portfolio will never be the same,
Nor will my bank account.
Yes, the days are long, and the nights are longer.
It's hard not to get them mixed up.

But the people here are true and good.
The buildings are magnificent.
The food is decent,
And the coffee shop calls my name more days than most.

I'm sitting upon my bed,
In a room that used to be cold and dead,
But is now filled with a million little things,
Things that make it mine.

Wal-Mart runs were a rite of passage
To bond with the girls on my hall,
And my late-night conversation with my RA,
Made home seem less far away.

Now I am writing and breathing and eating and sleeping
In a new land, with new territory to explore.
But I've only gotten lost twice,
Turned around from anything familiar.

So, if you ask, I'll say,
"College is great!"
And you'll say,
"Are you sure?"

So I take a deep breath.
"It's hard. It's gutsy and real and painful at times.
But it makes me more myself than I ever have been.
And, in the midst of tears, my people are still there for me, on the other end of the phone."

Hello, college.
I've waited so long.
Now I'm here.
And it's everything I ever imagined.

Hello, college.
You are sweaters and coffee and essays and tacos.
Hello, college.
You are perfection.

~Madeline

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