What. Just. Happened.
Time has blown by, taking with it the golden sunshine and bringing in clouds and rain. Some say that Stanford’s campus shines best in the sunlight – I like it best when the sky is gray and wet, which it has been since Thanksgiving break. The glow of the streetlamps reflects on the pavements, the green lawns and trees look even fresher and greener, and the air smells alive. Sometimes fog rolls in, coating the sandstone arches and bike seats, and softens the world.
After a desert storm, the barrel cacti and saguaros bulge with water, ready to endure the harsh heat ahead. When it rains on campus, I can’t help but grin at the forming puddles, even as the students around me rush to protect their laptops and seek shelter. Rain energizes me; a cloudy sky charges me up.
Lucky traits in my increasingly high-energy and spontaneous environment.
I intended to write some sort of “day in my life” post to commemorate my freshman fall, but I realized I have no ordinary day in my life. Every single day has been utterly unique and densely packed with memories, and try as I might, there is no way to generalize this to a mold.
However, there were some constants in the quarter. Agonizing Math 51 problem sets with third floor crew and late Thursday econ nights with Christina proved to be a comforting, albeit frustrating, constant. Arillaga Late Night (and later in the quarter, Huang) was a hilarious constant, marked by 1 AM departures from Soto (ahem, a certain member of our community who always seemed to go to Late Night when everyone else would ordinarily go to bed – and a double ahem to that same person for whom Arillaga became something of a torrid, committed romance). Late nights themselves became (unhealthily) constant, especially on the third floor. We said hi to the athletes as they woke up for 5 AM practices, then (sometimes) went to bed ourselves – other nights, my friends stayed up to watch the sunrise just because (although I never had the fortunate timing to participate).
Yes, that was my favorite constant: the never-ending stream of late nights and laughter and crackhead hours. Day time was for classes and business; night was when campus truly came to life. People are looser, more open, more vulnerable at night. The best adventures and conversations happen after the sun goes down. Sometimes, it’s a late night walk, learning about each other, finding rooftops, jumping in (or biking through) fountains, or following glowy clouds to their source. Other times, it’s conversations and p-set parties in the warmth of a dorm room or a gingerbread house, discussing everything from wiping technique to the state of politics to the future.
Some first quarter Soto-related memories, in no particular order:
- Going kayaking and to Santa Cruz with Tyler; being partners with Nancy
- Sinks of bubbles post-laundry prank
- 35 days of rejection with Nancy and Pranav
- Seeing everyone return from countless late nights at Arillaga or Huang
- That one week with a third roommate
- Eating an entire veggie tray with Janelle at 1 AM
- Conspiring with Pranav to buy Janelle AirPods
- Conspiring with Janelle to surprise Pranav with ice cream cake and a memory orb
- Staying up late with Laura and Marcelo after their double sexile
- BEAT SABER
- Productive hours with Max that inevitably devolve into deep conversations
- Aaron and Jared’s unimaginably messy room
- Going to San Francisco with Pranav (maybe San Francisco should be its own post)
- A Ram Tam Tam with Sierra and Michal
- Hanging out and stealing snacks and listening to Brandon’s stories
- Sardines
- Going on a ramen plate with Shornav
- Having a tea party during NSO in Annika’s room
- Hugely productive conversation regarding privilege whenever Alina pops up
- MemAud shenanigans with Umar, Kanoe, Dhruv, and Pranav
- Marcelo’s printer
- #alexquotes
- A certain sticky note with tally marks every time a certain someone visits our room
- Post-Eurotrash exploration with Tallnav
- A somewhat disastrous yet entirely hilarious trip to a Thai restaurant for Max’s birthday
- Marriage pact screamery and general enthusiasm
- A bulging wall, innovatively resolved with duct tape
- Going to SHPRC together
- Going to Late Night with Alex that one night
- Splashing in puddles and the rain post-late night at Huang with Laura, Max, and Janelle
- Line dancing in Huang
- S-O T-OOOOOO! S-O T-OOOOOOO! We are Soto, Soto, Wilbur Hall, WILBUR HALL!
In the blur of freshman fall, Soto was my rock when everything around me was spinning. When I think back to this time, I’m going to think of the sound of Pranav’s laugh and the look on Janelle’s face when she gets a compliment she wasn’t quite prepared for. I’m going to remember the smiles that never seem to leave Laura and Sierra’s faces, Max’s inexplicable ability to clarify the world, Juan’s quiet knocks on the door, and Alex’s way of making the entire room collapse into laughter with a single honest phrase.
Sotoans – if you ever read this, I appreciate you. I am grateful for you. And I love you so, so much.
Away with Jessica 