As the school year begins, it is normal to feel as though a fresh start is needed. Maybe you will start implementing those study habits you said you would work on last year this semester. Maybe you will go to the gym more despite it being so inconveniently placed for those living deep in campus. Or maybe you will get to class on time instead of running to class in a hurry only to realize you missed nothing.
The new school year is always a good motivation, or excuse, to try or do something new. As the seasons change from hot sweaty summer to cool breezy autumn, the identity and person you decide to be can change as well, both physically and emotionally.
For some freshmen, the process of meticulously choosing what limited possessions they can bring from home to decorate and transform their college dorm room is a reality that has only recently been made true with the first week coming to a close.
Upon the hundreds of tiny trinkets I could not choose from and was convinced that I could not leave home without, my color palette for the last five years has been the same: a pastel yellow. Though I never intended to have any associations or strong connection with a color, the hues of yellow became my identifier as I grew up, with friends and family taking pride in and pointing at anything remotely yellow just to show that they know me, and that they know who I am.
The reality for many freshmen is coming to terms with the understanding that everything that they have known has changed over the course of two weeks is an idea that can be hard to grapple with. How is it possible to just change the person you once were? What does it mean to want to be a new person in a new environment? Sometimes the question is not that deep, sometimes all someone wants is a change, which can be seen through the ways in which one decorates their dorm. Maybe you loved blue when you were younger and decided upon entering college that purple felt more suited towards you. Though it is just a simple color swap, it symbolizes the start of the new and the end of the old. Coincidentally for me, I implemented both the color I associated with most and the color I thought I should test out for college: yellow and green. Apart from those colors complementing each other nicely, I thought it ironic and fitting how I was bringing my comfort color into such an unknown environment, almost as if I knew that this was something I knew I would need to help me in the upcoming weeks.
While college is nerve racking to many freshmen, some folks come with the intent of completely reinventing themselves while others decide to keep the identity they have known and practiced. No matter what side one finds themselves on, there is some freedom in understanding that while the past can never be revisited, comfort can be found in knowing that you have the confidence to either reinvent yourself or not, even if it may just be colors.
