Freshman year, I remember spending most of my time, during weekdays and on weekends outside of my dorm. I would walk downtown for brunch and work downtown and I rarely spent time indoors. I usually studied in the library for hours at a time on Saturdays and Sundays, often going to the library 5 minutes after it opened. However, lower year has been different, in part because of the renovations on our library, in part because I’m not finding as strong a need to walk to different places to study.
The library used to be a place where day students, boarders, students from the farthest corners of campus and students who lived in the dorms in the heart of campus gathered. Habit wise, I’ve found that I end up spending more time in my dorm studying and chatting with my friends. I’m not quite sure what happened to me this year, but I’m lacking the motivation I had last year to explore. I enjoyed going out last year and seeing what was up and about on campus, but this year, as a returning student, I almost know what to expect everywhere I go. For example, Commons is always a bit more rowdy on the weekends simply because there are only two dining halls open, GW is always quiet because it requires bluecard access, the playing fields are virtually empty unless there is a home game, and the gym is usually very empty. I’m finding that I actually enjoy spending time in my dorm and as a result, I have stronger bonds with the people in my dorm.
I remember as a freshman wondering why I rarely saw upperclassmen studying in the library. I was curious and I explicitly remember asking people, how could someone stay in their dorm for the whole day? While I continue to make sure I get outside everyday for a couple hours at the bare minimum to get some exercise, I’m realizing how easy it is to get caught up in work and end up spending an entire Sunday/Saturday in the dorm.
I suppose this goes to show the relationship between age and habit at Andover. Habit is highly correlated with age at Andover. There are some pretty obvious chasms between the workload, energy levels, and extracurricular commitments of different grades, and as I freshman, I thought I would always be able to live my life at Andover the way I lived last year. Now I’m beginning to realize that going for a run and walk on Saturday may not be possible (and that I’d have to pick one), that spending an entire Sunday morning watching some episodes of a TV show on Amazon Prime may also not be possible, or spending three hours hanging out with a friend on a Saturday is not a good use of time.
My lifestyle change is taking me by surprise. It’s almost as if I’ve been subconsciously molded into a new lifestyle, even though I’m on the same campus with the same course load, and 48 hour weekends. My vision of sustaining my freshman lifestyle throughout my entire time at Andover is becoming more distant. I think what I have to prepare myself for is that I will have to prioritize as I get older and that my lifestyle will change as a result. I may spend less time outdoors walking, playing piano, and watching movies, but I’ll be able to study with friends and make closer bonds with the people in my dorm. Age is change, and at Andover, this couldn’t be more true. I guess all I can do is prepare myself.
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