Back on Campus

By Feliz Moreno

It is mid-September and Santa Clara students are back to the grind for another year. It feels good to return to campus, but as I get back into the swing of things, I discover what I really missed and what I really didn't miss.

I don't miss breakfast only being served until 10:30. I don't like being unable to eat breakfast food all day long, and sometimes I miss breakfast altogether. I miss not having a kitchen to make my own meals, even though I knew what I signed up for when I applied to live in the dorms again. My best cooking tool is now the microwave.

I don't miss hearing construction going on at six in the morning, or waking up to the lawn mower and leaf blowers. I had forgotten how loud it gets on campus around 1 a.m. on party nights, and how tempted I get to yell at obnoxious people from my window when I'm trying to sleep.

I definitely do not miss Benson meals (besides the breakfast sandwiches). I don't miss living without air conditioning, spending money, magazine subscriptions and my own room.

And of course I don't miss the class workload or feeling like there's always something more productive I should be doing. I don't miss not having any form of motorized transportation to get places that are farther away from campus I don't miss feeling like I never have any free time.

I do appreciate being able to take advantage of late night Bronco food. I missed having healthy foods available all the time — even if I never took advantage of them.

I did miss the free gym membership and familiar faces. I missed the campus and being able to walk almost anywhere I needed to go.

I missed all the activities that made me feel like there was always something to do and someplace to be. I missed running into people and stopping to ask how they were doing and conversations over dinner about a variety of miscellaneous subjects. I missed the interesting (and sometimes not so interesting) people I had met, and getting to meet new people.

What I really missed though was the weather. It's all sunshine here in the south bay, with perfect summer temperatures if you happen to come from the valley where heat means over 100 degrees. This being said, taking the bad with the good, it feels really good to be back.

Feliz Moreno is an English major and editor of the opinion page.