Miranda Writes

Dear 2016,

Most of you are still at home at this point, eagerly (and/or nervously) waiting for move-in next week. Some of you are here in the dorms already for early move-in, and waiting for your roommate/suitemates/floormates. You might have already met your roommate, or you might still be trying to figure out if they’re one of the few teenagers left without a facebook. You’re trying to figure out how to fit everything you need for college into two checked bags and a carry-on, or you’re trying to figure out if the car that was big enough to hold you, your carseat, and your diaper bag is big enough to hold you, your entire wardrobe, and your schoolbag. You’re excited for classes to start, but you’re also worrying about taking too many writing/math/lab classes.

You’re excited to live in the AMRs, but still can’t imagine why there isn’t AC there. You’re excited to live in Building A/B, but you’re still wondering if all of the unsociable rumors about them are true. You’re excited to live in Wolman, but can’t figure out how you’ll get any work done in a building that has its own movie theater. You’re excited to live in Hopkins Inn, but still can’t figure out how exactly Hopkins has managed to convert a bed and breakfast into your dorm room.

You’ve heard mixed things about the FFC, and you’re wondering how people still manage to gain the Freshman Fifteen, or you’re excited for the FFC, and brag to all of your friends about your unlimited meal plan. You’ve seen pictures of Brody Learning Commons, and are excited about getting to choose between there and Gilman to study (and you pity 2013-ers like me, who only had the library freshman year). You’re excited for SAC Fair, because you’ve already made a list of twenty different activities you’re interested in, and you’re still holding out hope that part of the Orientation packet contains a Timeturner.

You’ve figured out that you want to start doing research, and you’ve already spent hours looking at research that different professors are doing. You’ve spent time trying to figure out how to get to the Med School using public transportation before realizing that the JHMI will take you there for free. You’ve already planned out your post-college plans, even though part of you knows deep down that you’ll probably change majors and career plans at least once.

You’re sad to leave behind your pets, but you’re also hopeful that you’ll find the elusive squabbit, and you’re also heard rumors of puppies on the Beach at the end of the semester.

You’ve already gotten excited when you found out Hopkins had a beach, and already experienced the letdown that comes when you realize that it’s made of grass, and not sand, that people play Frisbee and not beach volleyball on it, and that the biggest noise there is from traffic, not waves breaking on the shore. You’ve already got plans to visit friends at schools in New York, and Philadelphia, and Washington DC, or you’re the only one from your high school in this region and you’re braving this new adventure alone. You’ve got plans to learn a new language, or several. You have a shortlist of ten countries where you would like to study abroad, and twenty different internships you’d like to hold during the summer after your freshman year.

You’ve already looked up the classes you want to take at the Rec Center, or you’re celebrating the fact that you never have to take another mandatory PE class. You still have to remember to check your JHU email, or you figured out to forward it your Gmail back in May. You’re already wondering when they’re going to post spring semester classes, and if attempting 25 credits really is impossible. You know you’re going to miss your best friends from home, but you’re pretty confident you’ll also find other new friends at school.

You’re excited. You’re nervous. You’re the Johns Hopkins University Class of 2016, and you’ve got this.