First semester challenging yet rewarding

By Kevin Lin     1/14/10 6:00pm

It's the start of the second semester at Rice. This means a last-minute scramble for books and classes as Owls gear up for another academic term at one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the nation. But before getting back into the hustle and bustle of school life, this is a good time to reflect on what was, for many, their first semester at Rice.Reactions can vary depending on the student, and answers encompass everything from relief at still being alive and functioning, to the expression of boundless joy that radiates with the warmth of the Houston sun.

I want to take this moment to offer my two cents as the respite of winter break provides me the time and ease of mind required to formulate it.

I arrived at Rice merely a semester ago. A young and hapless pre-frosh, I was merely trying to find a parking spot by McMurtry College when three disreputable hooligans chased me down, snatched my luggage and carried it up to my room.

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Given an Orientation Week t-shirt and enough reading material to placate even the fiercest academ, I claimed my side of the room, rolled out the bed sheets and stowed my luggage under the bed, where it has remained unopened ever since.

At this point, I had been at Rice for about an hour. My excitement was tinged with a healthy helping of optimism, a smidgeon of awe and two hours of jet lag. Had you asked me a year ago where I would be going to college, Houston, and by extension Rice, would be the last thing on my mind.

Yet somehow, here I was. I knew so very little about Rice. I wondered if I would fit in. I wondered how classes would be. I wanted to meet some of the smiling people in the Rice brochures that frequented my mailbox, ask them about the cause of their happiness. I wondered how long it would take for this place to feel like a home, if it ever would.

Then O-Week happened: a blur of faces, shenanigans and flooded bathroom floors. Ice was broken, scavengers were hunted and food was eaten under a giant yurt. Marches were conducted in an attempt to intimidate the neighboring clans. In our case, war was declared on the Duncaroos. In McMurtry College's first jack as a college, an early raid of Duncan College at 2 a.m., my roommate and I stumbled upon a Bakerite who was taking an early shower. He chased after us in his shirtless fury, alerting the college of our presence and taking my roommate hostage.

I remember watching the fireworks exploding in the distance, soaring brightly for but a moment before bursting in a spectacular explosion of lights and colors. It was at that moment that I felt the smallness of my existence: a pale figure under a night sky lit up with dazzling fireworks, illuminating all the people around me who were, in many regards, my betters.

Any illusion of competence was slowly but systematically eliminated as the weeks pressed on. I was introduced to the other side of the bell curve. The theory of relativity ceased to be a theory, the inertial frame ceased to be my own and the high schooler with his chest puffed out was no more. By October's pumpkin grades, I was almost ready to call it quits.

But I pressed on, and remained afloat to find that Rice was not simply an astounding school, but an astounding community. My life, since my arrival at Rice, has a been a series of incredible moments that shine like a cascade of fireworks in a dark night sky. With the first semester under my belt, all my initial questions have been answered and all initial worries have been discarded. And don't worry, I plan to disrupt a few more Baker showers before my time is out.

Kevin Lin is a McMurtry College freshman.

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