At around 1:00 a.m. last night, I left my buddy's place after some cocktails and Vikings football. I hopped on my bike and took off down the road and made my way towards campus. In case you are not familiar with St. Cloud on a Thursday night at this time, let me paint you the picture.
The streets and sidewalks are cluttered with all sorts of entertainment. People watching at it's finest. There is the large group of people wandering around that look like they have no idea where the hell they are. The group generally consists of more males than females and all of the guys are wearing backpacks. The girls wear lanyards around their necks and insist on expressing themselves in a very loud manner. Clearly we have our group of freshman. If not freshman, they are students that are not of age and have not figured out how to get into the bars yet. Attempting to find their next house party, they walk around trying to figure out which way the streets and avenues run. Generally there is at least one person on the phone that keeps repeating the address of their destination to the lost group.
On the other side of the road you have two guys that figured it was for the best to leave the bar a little early and venture their way back to wherever they came from. If the walk is long enough, they have generally gotten themselves into a very in-depth conversation about any random subject. These two also have no idea how loud they are talking and just about everyone in a block radius can hear them word for word. They may take a minute, dig from that liquid courage and chirp at people across the street, but normally end up keeping the path to their destination.
Behind these two, there is the classic "girlfriend walking away from her boyfriend situation." These two have let the alcohol get the best of them and have found themselves is a "relationship ending" argument. They have both probably said some things that they should not have and now find themselves walking all over St. Cloud letting everyone tune in. In the morning they will most likely not talk about it and everything will be alright.
Last, but not least, is the solo traveler. This is a guy that walks at a brisk pace and knows where he is going. He does not leave his straight path to his place. He probably stayed downtown longer than he had anticipated and blew a wad of money doing so. My guess is that he has a morning class that he needs to get to and will feel like shit during that class, but he will go. He won't remember how he got home but the important thing, is that his brain had turned on auto pilot mode that successfully landed him in his bed.
Back to the story. I decided to cut through campus to shorten up this ride. At this time of night it is very peaceful peddling round on the smooth sidewalks. The air is warm but the coasting of the bike brings a cool breeze to my face. I am almost to my apartment when I pass by Holes Hall. The starting point of my college career. As I passed by, all sorts of memories came flowing into my head. Although, everyone bitches about living in the dorms, myself included, this building brought me some of the best times of my life. Any upper class student will probably agree with me.
Yeah it sucked living in a room that was about the size of a prison cell, but I really would not be the person I am today without the dorm experience. I met many of my best friends in the dorms. Some of them have graduated and moved on with their lives but for the most part we keep in touch. Each person that I have met and became close with has impacted my life in a different way. I have learned so much from my friends that I acquired in the dorms. We went through both good and bad times. We got into a little trouble here and there but everything always seemed to work out. Nothing ever real serious, just college kids being college kids. You people know who you are.
The thing is, when you are sitting there as a freshman, you have no idea how fast the years you have in school fly by. I am now a fifth year student and have lived in three different places since my time in the dorms. It literally feels like 30 seconds have gone by. Although this may be the case, I feel like I have known my college buddies since elementary school. I know these people feel the same way. I have traveled with these people, I have met their families and friends from their home towns and built relationships with them, I have been through many good and some shitty times with them. In reality the dorms have provided me with better friendships then I could have ever asked for. If you have ever seen the movie Goodwill Hunting, and remember strong relationship he has with his friends, that is how I think of the people I have met along my college journey.
Its funny how biking by a building at one in the morning can bring on such memories and thoughts. I pass by that building every single day on my way to class and never really have thought about it like that. Perhaps it was the particular mood that I was in or the few cocktails that I had consumed earlier. Either way, it made me realize that time really does go by fast. In about a year, at best, I will be moving on to the "real world" and all of this will be a great memory. For now though, there are still good times to be had and great people to meet.
Until next time. Have yourselves a great Labor Day weekend.
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