Well friends, the summer is slowly wrapping up and I am soaking in every last minute of quality pool time with my family and friends. I am currently in an odd in-between space as I finished my internship in Missouri, am planning to visit family I have not seen for over 2 years in Canada in about a week’s time, and am now regrouping in Pennsylvania before moving to Waltham in a few weeks. As someone who trends very type-A when it comes to organization, I have to fight the urge daily to fully unpack – as I know I will then have to repack in a very short time. I thrive in constant change, but for whatever reason, packing gives me an odd sense of anxiety… I like to think that’s normal?
Anyway, as I consider what is ahead for my second year at Heller, I am filled with that same eagerness and anticipation that one feels on their first day of third grade. Why third grade? Well, for starters, my teacher’s name was Mrs. Wine and she was wonderful. To this day, I still love wine and I attribute that back to the love she instilled in me at a ripe young age (no one tell my mom I said that). Although I will not be back-to-school-shopping for cool new overalls or fancy new white sneaks due to budgetary concerns, I will still be rolling up to campus on some pretty hot wheels just like 3rd grade Hannah did. And by that I mean my 2004 Mercury Sable.
Prestige establishment aside, an underlying feeling this year that is new to me is that I feel as though I know many of my colleagues and professors quite well already, yet I have never met them in person. Am I excited to meet them in person? Of course! But it feels almost like online dating, where I have an idea of what the rest of their person should look like, but up until this point it is almost all imagined. Funny enough, one thing that often strikes people off guard when they meet me after only conversing via Zoom is my height (I am just a tad shy of 6 feet tall for those who are wondering).
So, the aspect I am most looking forward to with being back on campus for my second year of Heller are the informal chats before and after classes. No need to schedule a Zoom meeting or ensure your laptop is charged, I can simply run into folks and converse without the plethora of externalities restricting our interactions. Also, I am a big body language person, so to be able to read your body language to understand how you are feeling and/or how I am making you feel is important to me.
My excitement for being back in person on campus is one that 3rd grade Hannah can relate to. However, no 3rd grade Hannah could have guessed that the second-year grad student Hannah would have had the experiences she has had over the last year alone thanks to COVID. Regardless, I would like to think that I have made her proud and my goal this year is to enjoy the friendships and connections that evolve as we all enjoy being back in person on campus.