Fall and Winter

I'm always the odd one out. I love the fall and winter, and I love the cold.

Whenever the fall and winter rolls around I begin to miss Colorado. I remember my first semester in Colorado. I was completely alone in a new place a thousand miles away from home, and I was loving it. I found myself a second home that I fell in love with almost instantly. As the days got colder, the leaves began changing colors, and it was gorgeous. Keep in mind, I come from a place that consists of Spring Spring Summer Summer. After rehearsals, my friends and I would set our trumpets next to one of the tall oak trees, pile the leaves 3 feet high and just jump into them like we were a bunch of kids. We spent hours picking leaves out of our hair though afterwards. I loved the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet and the wonderful smell of trees. I still smile remembering how funny rehearsals were as the days got darker and we resorted to cell phones and glow sticks to locate our drum majors near the end of rehearsal. I remember huddling up at the end of rehearsals to sing out alma mater together. I remember the tickle wars Sarah, Claire, and I would have during our breaks.

As winter drew near, rehearsals were a bit grueling, and got a bit dangerous as 250 people were out on a snowy icy field doing pivots and freezing. Our band turned into 250 giant marshmallows heehee. We would have accidents, but still got right back up and kept on trudging along. I miss my band even more than I miss the weather. Sometimes I deeply regret only being a part of it for two years, but science slowly took over my life. The course load didn't really allow for anything besides class, labs, and studying.

I remember the first snowfall. The two Californians rushed out of the dorms like there was no tomorrow giggling with glee as all the Coloradoans laughed and shook their heads. I remember making our first snow people and snow angels, and I definitely remember the uncomfortable feeling of accidentally getting snow down your pants. I remember taking weekend trips down to the mountains to ski for the weekend.

I remember days when it was just "too cold" to leave our rooms and we opted to cuddle in our beds to watch movies and hang out instead.

Then four years just flew by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it I was giving my thesis presentation and standing on stage as my name was called to accept my casing for my diploma. The fear of tripping and falling on my face weighing heavily on my mind. "Why did I let Kate convince me to wear heels? Don't trip! Don't trip! Stop, shake hands, smile for the picture, don't trip don't trip. Oh thank god, I made it!" The most memorable part of walking across that stage was making it to the end and being given a huge hug by my department chair. A man I once feared who became my mentor and inspiration.

In writing this, I am reminded that I miss Colorado because I miss my school. I miss my professors and classmates. I miss sitting in our lab at 2 am writing our thesis with 25 hours left until the deadline, and how a few glared as I told them I was done with my final edit. Our graduating class was 27 people. Most people switched to major in biology once they discovered that we had to write a thesis. I miss my professors who fueled my passion for learning and my love for biochemistry. I miss the people I ended up getting to know so well since we spent nearly all of our time in class together. I still get a few notes here and there from old classmates, and we always end up saying "I never thought I'd miss being stuck in our lab doing homework all day". I think it was because we didn't so much do homework as hang out and talk about random things, and sometimes even biochemistry.

I think I need to plan a winter vacation back to my second home.