Socialization Stories: College

This is the final part of a series on socialization from elementary school through college.

The July following my senior year rolled around and Kelsey left early for school to try-out for cheerleading and band. Thus I had a full summer stretching free in front of me. The limitations of my chronic illness made working impossible (I was only awake and functional 4-5 hours of each day), so I was pretty much able to do as I chose.

The summer was thus spent in the company of Justin, a boy I had met in the gifted program in elementary school, and my lab partner for 3 years running. We learned Magic the Gathering together, and spent every day doing one of three activities: MTG, Nintendo-64, or experimenting with Justin’s liquor cabinet. It was a great summer. All misfits in school, we fit nicely in the company of one another.

But then the end of August arrived, and we flew out to our respective colleges, dotted across the landscape of Pennsylvania and upstate NY.

I was nervous arriving at school. I had met a few kids on the internet, but also made a few enemies. I knew nothing about my roommate as he had spent the summer in the rockies and thus never had time to answer emails.

Fortunately, on the second day of orientation, Emily came up to me in the bookstore and mentioned that we had met online. We got to talking (mostly about books, because we are both total  bookworms), and immediately hit it off. A few hours later, Mario got lost during Orientation and joined my group for introductions. Within 48 hours of arriving on campus, I had met the two students who would grow to become myt best friends.

As the year went on, my social life only got better. Mario started a Killer Bunnies (card game) group, and at point we had a dozen members attending the twice weekly meetings. I was walking into town with Emily each week, and we’d shop for books and old clothes at the thriftshops and swap stories aboiut our very different childhoods. I joined a Christian socialization group and met some kids that are still game for a shared dinner or quick conversation.The end of the year came much too fast, and I set up to live with Mario and Emily the following year, which was a great decision.

Sophomore year dawned, and I entered much more prepared. I assisted at Orientation and TA’d for a freshman class, giving me a chance to meet some of the new kids who were in search of friends. I met Kristen on Move-in day (read that story here), and found an Aspie in the freshman seminar who played MTG. I became friends with Emily’s roommate and another student who lived in my suite. I became involved in the Autistic swim, elementary socialization program, and working with Charger and babysitting the triplets. I also hit it off really well with a professor who shared my special interest.

Junior Year is now approaching, and promises to be more of a challenge then sophomore year. Emily will be abroad, Mario and I have drifted, and I will no longer be living with the same suite mates. But hopefully with a bit of effort on my part, I can make this year as fantastic as the last two.