FRESHMAN JOURNAL
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Downsizing Home, Expanding Mind

By Lauren Hendrickson, Vanderbilt University

The U-Haul rental truck, with a capacity of 396 cubic feet, pulled up to the dorm building next to mine. A young girl slid out of the passenger’s seat and surveyed her new home. Little did she know that her belongings, if left in boxes, would almost completely fill a standard size dorm room--floor to ceiling. 

While most incoming college freshmen experience anxiety when it comes to leaving the comforts of home and learning how to live independently, what makes college an even more drastic change are the choices students must make with regard to their possessions. Finding a balance between the bare necessities and the items that make a room feel more like home can be a struggle for college-bound students.

A few days after arriving on the campus of my new home, Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., I realized that these somewhat agonizing decisions were inconsequential when compared with the life lessons I was soon to learn.

Though I had seriously downsized my possessions and settled into a much smaller living space, I became aware that I was about to embark on expanding other aspects of my life.

I no longer lived in a small town where residents knew virtually everyone through one person or another. By comparison, each new day at college brought with it exposure to new people, cultures, languages and expectations.

My third night at Vanderbilt, I found myself passing by the room of my new hall mate named Mingyun Zhao, who came from China. Despite the language barrier, I was able to converse with her about how America was different from her hometown, Nanjing. Surprisingly, she said that one of the biggest adjustments she has had to make was eating her meals with a fork and knife.  In China, she and her family would eat every meal with chopsticks.
   
That evening back in my dorm room, I tossed and turned late into the night, questioning the actual amount of change I had to confront compared to that of an international student. While one of my largest adaptations was, admittedly, my considerably smaller wardrobe than that of my closet at home, I realized that people like Mingyun had to deal with so much more.

Not only do foreign students have to acclimate to being so far away from home and being exposed to a completely different culture, they also have to face significant changes with what I consider to be simple occurrences of everyday life, such as learning to use new eating utensils or attending a school where the primary language spoken is English--aspects of life that, before getting to know Mingyun, I took for granted.

In a matter of days, I have learned the virtue of patience and flexibility. Though I certainly have had a little difficulty adjusting to my new life in a cozy dorm room, I have learned to appreciate the facets of my life that have remained unchanged.

I am now inspired to meet more people like Mingyun and to expand my mind through the world of opportunities in which I am now surrounded.