a glance back at first year

As students go back to school and the weather gets a tad chillier, I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately. For late nights spent at the Study Center, for worshiping with other college students on Wednesday nights, for weekend trips to small towns, for having so many of my dear friends in walking distance.

Throughout my college experience, I wrote reflections detailing my semesters and they were by far my favorite posts to write on this blog. I started this blog on my winter break of my first year and I honestly didn’t do a good job capturing my first year or the memories that defined it for me. It feels like a weird blur in my college experience. This blog post is a retrospective, a look back in time to that first year of college when I was still getting my bearings as an adult apart from my parents.

My first year of college was 2018 into 2019. I don’t remember much of that time, except that it was different than I expected (some things never change). My first semester was feeling overwhelmed at the amount of reading, struggling to make new friends, trying to choose between two different campus ministries, and just all about survival.

Let’s stroll down memory lane~

Orientation was so wild. I remember Dean Groves speaking, and just seeing how many of us were actually in the room.

My first or second night on campus, I saw chalking of this Christmas Party and I convinced my roommate to go with me. After all, who has Christmas in August? One of the older students, Sara, took a group of us walking from the O-Hill dining hall to the Study Center. I did not know then what I know now, gentle reader. That Study Center would be a home away from home during my time at UVA.

There was Mug Party (students grab mugs and drink root beer), which was being held at the largest Christian organization on campus and I did in fact snag a mug. That mug has been used since 2018 as my pencil (and pen and marker) holder.

What I remember most about my first year was the incredible view. That’s what I took the most photos of. I lived in Balz-Dobie. I originally was going to live in another dorm, but that’s where my roommate wanted to live. No regrets. Except for the enormous hill to walk back up every evening. But the view. The trees, the mountains. I think my heart will forever ache at how blessed I was with that view.

There was the time that acapella groups came to first year dorms to sing to students. We sat on the steps of Ern Commons (a random building often used for group meetings) and heard some acapella pop tunes.

Somehow my roommate and I decided to go to First Year Formal. The best thing about First Year Formal was the t-shirt I got of out it. In coming to college, you can expedite meeting friends and forming relationships by going out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean those friends are meant to be lifelong friends. That wasn’t how I made friends, and so I think my journey to solid friendship in college was a lot slower.

There was Rotunda Sing where students gather on the Lawn by the Rotunda to hear what the acapella groups have been prepping for the semester.

There were the fall football games. I think I only went to a handful in my entire time at UVA. Football is kind of boring with the exception of the UVA chants, and of course, beating Virginia Tech. I loved the school spirit!

One of my most sweet college traditions was going to the beach, around late September or early October for Beach Retreat. InterVarsity gathered students together and we got away for the weekend. It’s so nice! It was my first time going to North Carolina. I remember I got in a car with Claire and Virginia on Saturday morning because I had had a late Friday mandatory thing. So we left around 5am. I remember listening to Batter Up by Brand New and Met by Love by United Pursuit. It was just lovely. It was my first silent retreat, which was definitely a struggle. We did skits (which are far the best part) and I was Peter. (Little did I know that my discipler for my last two years was in that group!). But the memory I delight in most was listening to What a Beautiful Name and being held by my small group leader Katie.

What’s so striking to me is how long my hair was, and how much I feel like it doesn’t really suit me. I’m definitely a bob length hair kind of girl.

Seek 2019 was the first Seek, I believe. A multicultural and ecumenical worship night and it was unbelievably stunning. I remember hearing Waymaker for the first time, and it was so incredible!!! Coming from having no community to being surrounded by other Christian believers was such a gift.

There was the 327 guys house and in December, they all got together to watch Home Alone. I got to see the tree lighting downtown. When I first went downtown, I was shocked. Downtown is like a few streets and there’s not much to it. It’s really cute, but not very expansive. Some of the older IV girls got together to have an ice cream party. We played Fishbowl, played Just Dance, and had ice cream. It was so so sweet!

And then there was Winter Formal. I honestly have no clue what I put on my ornament. My guess is 1 John 4:18. I’d write that verse on my hand often first year.

And at the start of exams, there was a pretty big snow storm.

Second semester, we had winter Rockbridge (our annual retreat), and I definitely got lost and ended up in the boys’ small group with a giant pink flamingo. (true story). UVA won the national championships and my only regret is that instead of celebrating, I went back home to study. Tony Bennett is a legend! And a Christian! And I attended summer Rockbridge (the only time I ever went because COVID became a thing and then I graduated).