From a fresh point of view

For this week's installment of 'A Glimpse Within,' we asked several members of this year's freshman class to reflect on their Princeton experience so far.

The date was Sept. 8 at around 10 p.m. It was my first shower after returning from Outdoor Action. Without delving into every facet of my Outdoor Action trip, I feel that I must give appropriate background to justify The Shower.

The Shower was hot and cleaner than anything I had been near since the last time I showered, six days before. The bubbles buoyed and bounced. My Herbal Essences shampoo produced a smell so wondrous it almost brought tears to my eyes. The dirt slid off and swished down the drain. The first application of shampoo slid off as well, but the second made my hair a lively body of tendrils, ready for the world.

The Shower, with its blistering beads of water and steam rising. The Shower, washing away the insecurities of not knowing anyone at Princeton except my newfound OA group. Something happened in that closet of effervescence that made every small thing seem like it was going to be OK. Since The Shower, I've used the facilities in my Forbes Addition hallway every day. Now it's not a bad shower, and it's not the greatest shower, but it definitely has the status of an exalted place on the Princeton campus.

— Brooke Lewy '04

After my last-minute preparations the night before I left for Princeton, I went to my high school for the football game. In many ways, this was my final goodbye. I was coming back, one last time, to my home, the place where I had spent four years of my young life. I came back to see the parents and people in the school community who had helped me do so much in those years. I came back to see my former teammates, my friends, battle on the same football field in the same stadium where I had spent four years playing football. These were the young men with whom I had bled and cried, and I wanted to make sure they were all OK before I made my journey.

I came back, most of all, to see the place. I came back to see one last time just what I was leaving behind — a place where I knew everyone and where everyone knew me. As I prepared myself for the journey to Princeton, I saw one more time where I had come from and why I was leaving.

— Jonathan Rawlings '04

I love the lifestyle here, the fact that I don't have to make my bed if I don't feel like it, that I can go for a walk in the middle of the night if I feel like it, that I can live life on my own terms and get away with it.

But that's exactly what this other part of me cannot come to terms with. It's nice to think that I can stay out all night if I please, but it makes me a little resentful to know that no one would really care, if I did. It's gratifying to know that all I have to do is step out of my room to make a dozen new friends — especially now, when everyone's tripping over themselves trying to meet new people — but easy come is easy go. It's my life, finally, after all these years, but somehow that's every bit as scary as it is exhilarating.

— Ananya Lodaya '04

As a person from "down South," I am apparently a rare specimen, and I got used to the surprised expressions on people's faces when I said I hail from New Orleans. I found that the summer weather up here, apparently, is equivalent to winter weather in Louisiana. I was also surprised to see the perpetual partying that went on during orientation week. Coming from the land of Mardi Gras, I am no stranger to this kind of merrymaking. But some of these Princeton parties can almost rival the revelry on Bourbon Street.

Back home, Princeton is viewed as an intolerably elitist, homogeneous community. Most New Orleansians believe that the campus is in the middle of nowhere, hidden among cow pastures and apple orchards. Even I was firmly convinced that Princeton was in New Hampshire.

But one afternoon, I saw myself as a part of Princeton, not as a temporary attachment. When I go home for Thanksgiving, I can tell my friends that cows aren't the only creatures that survive in Jersey — and, for the first time, I can believe it when I say it.

— Cheryl Shih '04

'A Glimpse Within' is a weekly column in which we ask members of the Princeton community to share personal experiences. The 'Prince' welcomes submissions of about 650 words to The Newsroom..