College

Posted by Mark on Monday, October 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment

It’s been nearly two months since my first day as a freshman at Clark University and a lot has happened in my life since. College is awesome! When I moved into my dorm in August I felt uncomfortable and homesick for a while, but after a week or so I began to appreciate everything about living here. Aside from my summers in Finland, college has been the most free environment I’ve ever lived in, so being the autonomous person that I am, I love it. I love looking at my weekly calendar and being reminded of the fact that the vast amounts of time surrounding my 6 class blocks are for me to use however I want. I love being able to wake up at noon on weekdays, go to the cafeteria when I feel like it, and walk around the city or campus at a whim, all while getting my work done and almost never having to feel sleep deprived. The freedom and spare time I have here is unbelievable and not even comparable to how my life was at home during high school.

My dorm: Can you feel the fifties!

As for social matters, I’ve come to really enjoy living close to friends while still having control over my life. When I first began to meet people I made it clear to them that despite our proximity to each other, I valued independence and wasn’t of the type that liked to be in constant contact with others. My choice of honesty over conformity worked out and I’ve become good friends with some girls that I can relate to and be myself around. We’re all very like-minded and have already shared many wonderful experiences and conversations together. My roommate and I are perfect living partners, as we’re not friends but are comfortable around each other and can have a nice conversation after a long silence without even a hint of awkwardness. I haven’t been to any school events, joined any clubs or gone to any parties, and I don’t plan too, as I don’t want any commitments beyond my classes and I like being able to spend time with friends in environments of our choice. Despite not being involved in any official activities, I feel like I’m at the right school, surrounded by my kind of people and a community that I can feel apart of.

My desk in the dorm, everything fits very nicely!

This semester, which started at the beginning of the school year and goes until December 18th, I’m taking three courses: “American Cities and Suburbs”, “Privacy Protection in Law and Ethics, and “Introduction to Graphic Design”. The first of these is a large, seminar-style class, and although I’ve been interested in most of what we’ve studied, I haven’t enjoyed the course overall and am now certain that I won’t be going for a Geography major at Clark because of the extensive economics and statistics courses that it entails. Privacy Protection is a course that I originally hesitated taking but have now come to really enjoy. Uncommon for college, the class is small (about 15 people) and discussion based, so I’ve been able to get to know the professor well and actually interact with her in class. We’ve primarily studied historic legal cases and talked about there role in the evolution of law and the connections they hold to other legal issues and matters of the present. My third course, Intro to Graphic Design, has been my favorite and extremely insightful. Although I’ve been practicing graphic design for years, having designed many websites and mock corporate identities all through high school, I’ve learned a ton in these last two months. Most of the course work has typography-related and produced by hand, using materials like tracing paper and gray matte, with tools like an exacto blade and ruler – the way that graphic design has been practiced for centuries. This has all be new to me, as I’ve always designed digitally, primarily with Adobe Illustrator, but having now designed by hand I’ve developed a much greater appreciation and understand of typography and layout. A few weeks ago I rewatched the film Helvetica and couldn’t believe how much more I enjoyed and understood it knowing what I’d learned in class.

All in all, college couldn’t be going better, and I’m already thinking about my courses for next semester. I’m also looking forward to winter break when I’ll be heading back to Finland for a month. I’m very close with my grandma but only now in college have I made it a habit to call her regularly from the USA (thanks to Google Voice!), so I’m especially excited to be able to share and philosophize with her in person when we’re finally together again in Finland. Surprisingly, during my time in college I feel like I’ve also become much closer with a few of my friends from high school, both current students and graduates, having had long, deep conversations with them online about ourselves, life, and the world at large.

Here are a few more photos I’ve taken at Clark:

Knitting with friends! It’s been years since I last knit but it all came back to me!