As this semester draws to a close, I’ve hit the halfway point in my current program. While it’s possible I may decide to stay in school, and pursue something further, it’s strange to think that the whole experience may be into its latter half soon. When I realized that, my first reaction was “Wow, I still feel like I’m new here.” I still feel like I did at new student orientation, when the campus was a labyrinth, and experienced students treated it like a second home. But then I stopped to consider that.
Of course I still don’t know everything about this school, I can’t list every club, or give perfect directions to every classroom, but over the time I’ve been here, I’ve become far more comfortable at the school — I go for walks and just wander the campus sometimes, without feeling like I shouldn’t be there, I take naps without it feeling weird, and it’s getting rarer and rarer for me to walk to class without seeing somebody I know. I’m not a UFV veteran by any means yet, but I’m starting to realize that maybe I’ve become one of those people I was so impressed with during my first semester.
Illustration by Amara Gelaude
Jeff was The Cascade's Editor in Chief for the latter half of 2022, having previously served as Digital Media Manager, Culture & Events Editor, and Opinion Editor. One time he held all three of those positions for a month, and he's not sure how he survived that. He started at The Cascade in 2016.