So boys go to college, too...

The UltraViolet November 2007

Two weekends ago, I went to visit the University of Oregon campus. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with my friend Sara in her dorm room (or rather, her shoebox) on her co-ed floor. Yes, co-ed floor. As in there were boys right next door. And down the hall. And boys who randomly walked into her room and sat down on her bed to watch “Hitch” with us. Yes, boys who watched romantic comedy films. The first time this happened that night, I sat there on the opposite bed staring blankly at him until I realized that I looked like an idiot and diverted my attention to the gorgeous Will Smith. The second time that happened I stared blankly. The third time? The third time Sara nudged me the moment the boy walked out of the room and asked me what the hell was going on.

Boys in rooms and boys in hallways and boys in classrooms. To be honest, the last of those three freaked me out the most. Like, boys go to school? Real school? Sitting in an intro to psychology classroom the following week with my friend Rena at the University of Colorado at Boulder, I couldn’t help but be more focused on the fact that there were boys in the classroom than on the actual lecture. Having spent the past six years of my educational career in classrooms with no testosterone, it’s weird realizing that it is possible to have a co-educational experience.

On that note, it’s even harder to comprehend that the most difficult (and possibly most important) quarter of my academic career is over. By the time you read this, early applications will be sent in and hopefully we’ll all be a little bit nicer to each other. Not that it’s really going to get any easier – I can feel senioritis creeping up over my shoulder, the type that tells me that we’re all so close but still just out of reach. So, it isn’t getting any easier, but at least we all know that this is as hard as it is going to get for us, right?

Alright, maybe that’s not as reassuring as I hoped it would be, but our days here are numbered; it’s our turn to chant “one more year, you’re still here,” and in January, “oh my God, we’ll be SECOND SEMESTER SENIORS” (by which point our brains will have officially shut off).

And if none of that gets you through it, just think, next year? Flip flops, noon wakeups, and BOYS.

– Evan ’08