Stories To Tell: Part XI

The Hollins Years

As I said last week, I think I moved into Hollins University on the hottest day of summer in 2002.  I moved into a dorm with no AC called Randolph.  As an incoming student when you looked at the first-year dorm Randolph, compared to the other first-year dorm, Tinker, you thought you were getting gypped.  But, those assumptions could not have been further from the truth.  I would take Randolph with a hot room with big windows facing toward the pretty exterior of Tinker than the other way around any day! 

Our first week of school we had a day when the internet was completely down. For the first few minutes it seemed like a crisis of epic proportions--but in truth it was the best thing that could have happened to the girls on the second floor of Randolph--Randy 2 as it is lovingly known. We had little connection to the outside world and we were forced to get to know one another and bond together. We spent our time out in the hallway talking and having a dance party in which I think boa's were involved.  Our RA didn't last too long after that and I always wondered if we had scared her away.

I loved my freshman hall.  These girls in large part became my sisters.  We would all traipse across the quad to the dining hall together for dinner and sit at the same table.  We would pile into one another's rooms to watch the latest episodes of whatever shows we loved. I particularly remember Friends and The Bachelor.  We made cakes or cupcakes for everyone's birthdays.  My friend Sarah drove me to the hospital to see my mom when my car wouldn't start.  Jennifer and I survived our first January term in an English class together which bonded us together as "Tater" and "Poo Poo Head" forever.  I would not have passed Spanish (or life) without Meagan.  I would not have met Michael without Holly.  I would never understand how to appropriately pronounce "Knoxvull" without Katherine, "Katty".  I've never met someone so witty with words as Corinne.  My friend Kayte that I met at Hollinsummer lived two doors down.  A lot of us traded roommates and switched rooms throughout the year, but in truth no one really wanted to leave the hall so we made it work.

Study Abroad

I became an RA for my last three years at Hollins. I really loved the community that it provided for me and the involvement on campus.  I worked for excellent staff on campus in residence life and I learned a lot of skills that serve me well today. But, for the spring of my Junior year, I went abroad to study in London for about 3.5 months.  By that time I had been dating Michael for a year or so and it was really hard to leave him behind but I just knew that this is one of the dreams I had for my college experience and I am so glad my parents helped make that happen.  We all lived with host families in an area of London called Muswell Hill.  Some of us had positive experiences with this and others not so great.  But, mine and Katherine's host family, The Skinner's, were the absolute best! I could not have asked for better people to open their home to us and bring us into their lives.  Their three children were young--a teen and two elementary age kids--now all grown! We were always welcomed at their table and (bravely) into their kitchen to make American biscuits.  They had this precious cat who we  were told would probably steer clear of us.  Little did they know how much Katherine and I love cats.  Harry became our constant companion.  He slept on our beds, drank water from our sink, and ate peanut butter from a spoon. 

Our classes were created for us to experience as much of the city of London and culture as possible.  The schedule was designed for us to be able to have time to travel and explore.  I took Theatre, History, Architecture and British Media.  We went to plays and visited museums and historical buildings regularly.  On weekends and longer holidays we went on excursions around Europe.  I felt like this might be my only chance to go abroad so almost every weekend I went somewhere different.  One of our first trips taken with my closest friends was to Edinburgh, Scotland.  Scottish people are so friendly! On the train we met our dear friend Alec.  Alec was quite annoyed with these four loud American girls on the train and we were annoyed with him because he would not give up his prime seat at a table where we could have all sat together! By the end of the trip we had discovered his love for pop music (Britney Spears) and the rest is history.  We have remained friends with Alec and even got to spend a weekend with his lovely family in Torquay before we returned to the states for his 30th birthday!  Gee, Alec that puts you at what age now?.... :P.  He has come to visit us here in the US as well. 

In larger groups we traveled to Ireland where I almost died horseback riding (another story for another day), and the Canary Islands for our spring break.  I got to travel with each of my closest friends on trips individually.  Meagan and I went to Prague where we landed late at night and suddenly felt very American and out of place.  We went on a ghost tour and tried too much Absinthe.  Jennifer and I met my aunt and uncle in Paris for a weekend in April where it was still so cold we layered all the clothes we had and saw snow at the top of the Eiffel Tower. I got to visit the Palace of Versailles which was a great dream of mine.  Katherine and I went to stay with her family friend in Florence--so beautiful! Seeing the Duomo was definitely on my bucketlist.  We also saw Rome in a day and I was blessed by a Catholic priest in the Sistine Chapel.

We saw crazy things in London riding the Tube and the double decker buses.  We met Joshua Jackson and Patrick Stewart after a play one night.  We celebrated birthdays in the Church Pub down the street (yes, a real pub in a former church, beautiful place). We found the restaurants that served sodas with ice. By the time we left we could pick out the tourists from the locals.  I was so glad to come home but I was much more sad to leave my host family than I ever imagined I could be.  It was a special season of life. 

Hollins Traditions

I could spend a lot of time teaching you about the Hollins traditions of First Step (you are not allowed to walk on the grass of front quad until you are a senior), Tinker Day (crazy costume hiking day), Ring Night (Juniors "earn" their class rings by taking orders from Seniors all weekend and doing silly things), and of course graduation.  Seniors are given four champagne bottles (usually at Ring Night) decorated by their Ring Sisters to celebrate the grand occasions of senior year.  I could regale you with fond memories of birthday parties, formals, and memories of these grand traditions.  But truthfully, my fondest memories are made up of lazy afternoons in January watching movies and eating Jennifer's famous cheese dip.  My favorite times were the ones when we sat at the dinner table in the dining hall until they were ready to turn off the lights. When Nikki would make artwork with her leftover food and Katherine would play "Fishin' In The Dark"  or "Sweet Home Alabama" on the jukebox.  The treasured moments are the ones sitting on the steps of West recounting the stresses of the day with Meagan. 

These are the women (not even all of them) whose friendships would sustain me through college and all of the years since.  We've celebrated moves, graduate degrees, jobs, weddings, and babies.  We've grieved the loss of grandparents, loved ones, jobs, relationships, and all manner of life's changes.  I said just the other day how I wish we could be living back in Randy 2, where our friends were only a few steps away.  I have friends that would tell you my degree from Hollins was not in English but in Crafting.  My parents might tell you the most practical thing I learned was how to put salt on a napkin to keep the glass from sticking.  But what I gained the most is that which cannot be given a price--the community to which I can always return, and always be myself.