George Washington University - Cherry Tree Yearbook (Washington, DC)

Page 17 text:

REUNITED But, as nightfall comes, you become settled in and old friends begin to drop by. Everything seems worthwhile. You gather up a group of friends and head out to one of your favorite watering holes to toast the summer gone by and the year to come. The conversation ranges from Linda’s experiences as she backpacked through Europe to Jill’s adventures in Atlantic City, each person in the group getting the chance to tell the stories that have accumulated dur- ing four months of vacation. While listening to the conversation, your mind begins to wander. You think how great it is to have such good friends. Even after four months of being apart, it seems like you never left each other. The bonds of friendship that have grown over the past years have become strong with time. The people you are with have seen you grow and change through the years of college. They have seen you through the thick and thin of your days here at G.W.U. There are people here that have known you each year that you have been in college. Even though you really can not call college home, these people make it feel like one. They are a surrogate family that gives you the feeling that you have a home. You know you have people that you can depend on in times of need and in the time of joyful celebration. You are quickly brought back down to Earth by the simple action of the waiter handing you the bill for the drinks. After digging up enough money to pay the bills plus to leave a tip, the group heads out and decides that the night is still young and Georgetown awaits your pres- ence. You start that familiar walk down Pennsylva- nia Avenue past Washington Circle and on to M Street into Georgetown. You notice that since the summer, the M Street bridge has actually been finished and once again it can be crossed with out endangering life and limb. Continuing down M Street past Geppetto’s, home of the best deep-dish pizza in Washington, Mr. Smith’s, where the best daiquiris are made, and Ikaros, home of the Gyro, you finally arrive at the corner of M and Wisconsin. It seems as though action at this corner is constant. Indeed, every religious group under the sun is trying to sell you flowers, side-walk musicians are demonstrating their various skills and people from all walks of life are heading in all directions. You decide you must satisfy a craving for one of American Cafe’s delicious sand- wiches. Y our friends agree with your decision, so you turn right and head up Wisconsin. All of a sudden, even though just yesterday you were miles away from this point, you feel at home here. The different areas of Washington have become second nature to you and you know just where you fit in. After a roast beef sandwich at American Cafe you decide that it is time to call it a day. Walking back to your room or apart- ment, or taking the Metro home to the suburbs, you feel secure in the fact that Washington is still there and you and your friends are ready for another year. Once home, you realize that you left half of your belongings unpacked and that your stereo is still not set up. You proceed to unpack the remainder of your clothes and try to make your room resemble a livable place and not the warehouse of the local Salvation Army. After setting up the stereo, you search for a fitting song to end the night, finally deciding upon Barbara Striesand’s Memories. 13

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Page 18 text:

For the students who stayed in Washington throughout the summer, the rude shock that the long 4 month vacation is over and the school year is about to begin, is brought into focus in a different manner. There is only the calender and some tell-tale signs that signal the end of summer. The sports fans can tell that school is about to begin by just glancing at the sports pages. Headlines tell of the Pennant Races between Philadelphia and Montreal and Houston against Los Angeles. Those who suffer from hayfever can tell that summer is ending by the fact that their noses begin to run as the level of pollen begins to rise. But the best way to tell is to just take a walk through campus. The streets are again full of life. All the cars that you saw last May loading up and driving out of the city are back again. Back again are the sidewalk vendors that have been gone all summer. Once again, you can quench your thirst at the natural lemonade truck, fill an empty stomach with food that takes your taste buds on a world tour to China, the Middle East, and back to the good ole U.S. of A. for a frankfurter. One can buy any kind of tee shirt with assorted causes and slogans printed on the front ranging from “No- Nukes” to “Support Your National Zoo.” Just last week, while walking down G Street on the way to a friend’s apartment all you saw svas a local resident walking a dog, and the firemen washing down their trucks. Now the street has transformed into a major artery with a multitude of human activity. There is only one thing that can be deduced from this scene: yes, the school year is about to begin. After resigning yourself to this fact, you settle in with a group of buddies, who are shooting the breeze outside the library. 14