Shouldn't…but Do

“Life is a highway, I’m going to ride it all night long…”

So says Tom Cochrane in the song blasting across the common area of a university on Move-In day.

Volunteers offer help, parents tote packages, the sound of luggage wheels.  Some lines at the check-in tent, but many frosh passed through last night.

The clock tower chimes 9:00 AM.  SUV’s jockey for position. Change is in the air at colleges across the US on Move-In day.

At this eastern university, aspiration goes to ground as the realities of the school year take shape.  New roommates, shared spaces, the dual challenge of new curriculum and creating an identity outside of familial glare.

Traffic is picking up.  The Yard teems with stories.  Parents engaged in the shuffle or standing clear, pondering the end of one era, and the beginning of another. Newly minted freshman are on the move.

“Don’t stop believin’, hold on to that feeling…”