The Day Marked on the Calendar

Name: Trang (Diem) Vu

Year: Class of 2012

Hometown: Baltimore, MD

Intended Majors: Biology & Writing Seminars

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August 29, 2008.

Even the date looks like magic. August, a word reminiscent of summer light and warmth and happiness; 29, a prime number, a special number; and 2008, a number made up of several round shapes, circles being the symbols of cycles and…and of new beginnings.

Yes, I did just make that all up, but can you blame me? I’m excited!

August 29, 2008 is the day I move in, the day when for the first time in my life I leave my parents for more than just a few weeks, where I live in a dorm with a person I’ve never met before in my life, other than those technological blessings known as email and Facebook. It’s when I fly from the nest for the first time ever and begin a new chapter in life when I feel independent and free. Even if these are only fantasies of freedom, as my parents would have it, it’s still exciting to live away from home for the first time. And even though I was born and raised in Baltimore, I’m sure that when I move out, I’ll see the city through new eyes, and that which was familiar to me before will morph into fabulous new things, waiting to be discovered.

I remember that day in April when I sat at the computer at exactly 6:00 and started frantically hitting the “refresh” button at the top of my screen. I checked Admissions Daniel’s page over and over again and saw panicked comments: “Did you get your email yet? Did you get in?! I hope I did! OMG!” And then finally, some time after 8:30, I checked my ISIS account and saw my financial aid award. Although I didn’t get my admission email until the next morning, my house was trembling from shrill squeaks of joy all night. From that moment I couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like to move out, to live at Hopkins, to make friends with the people there, to be on my own. The excitement hasn’t died one bit, and dorm supply-shopping is my new favorite activity! I actually have a pile of things growing in the corner of my room.

August 29, 2008 is the day that Orientation begins. I can’t tell you in words the excitement of going into a new world where I know almost no one at all and then diving in, making new friends, and hopefully forging bonds that will stay strong for the rest of my life. And although I’ve never liked the team-building activities I’ve had to do at work and school, the funny little exercises that no one gets, I’m sure that this Orientation will be different. I know that no matter what, it’ll still be thrilling to see a few familiar faces and getting acquainted with many unfamiliar ones, as we are all hurled for a few days into a new and bustling environment.

Johns Hopkins is treated like an enigma, a secret world where super-competitive children go in and haughty doctors come out. But after my visits to the campus, I understand that this reputation is unfair. I like to tell myself it was initiated by envious people. Hopkins is, as I understand, a challenging school, but challenge is what I’m after. That’s why I’m going! And I hope that when I enter the school’s doors officially that any traces of intimidation left behind about the insidious rumors surrounding Hopkins will be cleared for good, for me and for all my classmates, when we are allowed into the Hopkins community.

August 29, 2008 is also my birthday. Who would have guessed eighteen years ago, by looking at the tiny, wrinkly baby cooing in the hospital crib that the same little person would grow in eighteen years into a slightly-not-as-little person walking into the Johns Hopkins University campus, ready to be her own young woman? I mean, I still don’t feel like a college student. What is being a college student supposed to feel like, anyways? I mean, I feel like I’m missing something, that I haven’t been initiated yet.

I see college kids in malls or at pools or at other random places. I know by looking at them that they can’t be much older than I am, but by some other way, perhaps the way they speak or carry themselves, they seem light-years ahead of me. I’ve always been a very small and young-looking person. Whenever my mother’s friends come over, my “Aunties” pinch my cheeks and tell me I look like a fourteen-year old.

Thanks.

But I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s missing that special thing. College students look special in their own way, so the thing I’m talking about definitely isn’t something I missed that my principal handed to everyone else at my high school graduation, and it also isn’t something missing from my gene code. 

There is something intriguing about what I’m missing, or what college students have, that air about them that makes them different. Maybe it’s confidence. Maybe it’s strength. It could be both or more or less. Maybe it’s nothing at all, that I’m imagining it all and that college students still feel young when they look at graduate students. Or something. I don’t really know.

I can only hope that on that day I turn eighteen, that day when I start a new part of my life and start making memories I’ll cherish, or laugh at, or think of grimly before I attempt making the same mistake again (the latter is most likely) that I’ll find out what it is or isn’t.

On August 29, 2008, I’m going to tell my parents I don’t need a present this year…except maybe a shopping spree at IKEA.

Comments

[Admissions_Daniel]

Diem,
Another fantastic entry from the Class of 2012!!! An early Happy Birthday and happy move-in. August 29th will be a big day for you, and one of those most memorable days of your life ... enjoy it.
Cheers

[JHU_Kate]

I really loved this entry! Heehee, I could relate to feeling young when you're a high school student looking at college students -- and just so you know, this undergrad student over here *does* feel young looking at graduate students. :P

[dominique 2012]

yay now I will REALLY remember your birthday...lol shame on you for not telling anyone for the past 2 years....anyways GREAT blog entry! I wasn't gonna apply for SAAB anymore since my entry didn't win a spot but reading this has made me want to write another, better blog.

ILY!!!!!!

[Rohan Shah]

Hey Diem!
I loved your entry...Its pretty easy to relate to what you feel...Not too long to go now!(9 Days ;D )

[JHU_Jessica]

Great entry Diem! You definitely can tell that you love to blog. I still don't think I look like a college student...I was hoping that I would somehow transform into one, but I'm now questioning that. Great job!

[JHU_Mandy]

great entry! you know what made me feel like a college student? the hopkins sweatshirt. haha, I wish I was kidding!