Lost and Found

The ride from New York felt like forever, but the views in between slumber were worth it. Amherst, Massachusetts reminded her of home, clean, bright, and green.

Like the suburbs of Katy, Texas, where she had gone to high school, Amherst had an openness, space between houses, room to breathe. It was why she was making this trip. She needed trees and fresh air, a break from the endless gray sidewalks back home that mirrored the chrome skyscrapers, blocking all views of the trees so that were not there. When the bus turned into the parking lot, she got off and watched as others left, until finally a car with familiar faces pulled up.

One of the faces belonged to her friend, a former roommate who was now at Hampshire College; as the road winded past cows and wooden fences, her friend filled her in.

Located in a forested area, Hampshire is known for its alternative curriculum, which is focused more on portfolios, mentors, and evaluations rather than grades, professors, and grade point averages. At Hampshire, students basically create their own concentrations. Now it was the end of the semester and students were hosting an event known as the Spring Jam. Lil B, a rapper, was performing and her friend promised to drive back to New York so she wouldn’t have to ride that awful bus.

Only five hours from New York, the campus o fHampshire College felt like a cult hidden away in another world. She was given a brief tour of the school before being led to the woods were the dorms were where she’d be sleeping.

The building was shaped like a beige donut. Inside, the common room was filled with mismatched furniture and a giant bean bag twice her size that she immediately claimed as her “bed” for the night. She then visited the other dorms, met friends of her friend, and ate in the cafeteria just like any other student. But she wasn’t any another student, and this wasn’t any college.

These kids were eclectic and free-spirited, but in a different way than she had experienced before. Their constant enthusiasm reminded her of how she had felt when she first moved to New York.

She still gets that feeling sometimes, like when she’s standing on a city rooftop, looking at the skyline and she remembers why she moved to the concrete jungle. But for the most part, she wasn’t motivated by her environment back in New York. At Hampshire, however, the students clearly were, in the middle of the woods, and this fascinated her.

Ordinarily, she wasn’t even a fan of Lil B. But that night something changed. Her face, as it bobbed up and down in a sea of strangers, was plastered with pure joy. Lights bounced off the white tent as it filled with music and dancing students. The rain was just beginning as the concert was winding down. As she ran with her friends through the woods, she could feel each individual rain drop as it hit her skin. After a hot shower, she cocooned herself in the beanbag with a marshmallow-like comforter, replaying the night in her head.

The weekend was exactly was what she had been looking for, a different world of sorts.