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September 18, 2004
Movin' in... UC Santa Cruz
Today was "move-in" day, when anxious students and their even more anxious parents arrive on campus and magically transform their bare dorm rooms into reflections of themselves. I have never seen so many SUVs before in my life, each filled to the brim with consumer electronics and all manner of white-goods... freezers fridges, TVs and stereos. For me at least, it was a first-hand taste of what each American university student experiences on their first day of university.
You see, attending their first day of "College" is a pivotal moment in their lives. Aged 18, they leave home for a University far from home and are expected to navigate the chaos of university programmes on their own. They are expected to "fit-in" get along with their room-mates and ultimately look after themselves. At least when finding flatmates there is some negotiation to find like-minded people. Here, you are mated with anything from one to three roomies and well, thrown into the deep end. How does this contrast to my first day of uni? I think I spent it in a massive line outside Carslaw and filling out my HECS paperwork. I didn't worry about financial aid, what my majors were to be or thinking about what I do with my life. I think I might have had a free lunch of either pizza or fruit (thanks to Judy) in the computing department afterward. I certainly didn't end up living there...
I took some pic of where I'm living, and of the view from my house and room so you can see for yourself the fantastic view I was talking about in my last post...
This is my house... Casa 7, room 205.
And downtown Santa Cruz, the beach broadwalk and wharf off in the distance... squint, you might see Australia! :-P
Posted by Simon at September 18, 2004 10:00 PM