University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

Page 20 text:

NTERLUDE . . . RENEW OLD FRIENDSHIPS, PREPARE FOR THE NEW SEMESTER Adjusting to the University, its bigness, its massive numbers of people is initially hor- rifying. Your individuality becomes stifled as your quest to fit in overrides yourself. Just as your niche seems to be found, the on- slaught of academics buries your quest and overrides your fear. It seemed to me to be a frustrating cycle — then you reach for your- self and somehow, adjustment is there.

Page 19 text:

Summer was over — the lazy days of lying endlessly in the sun and the long nights of parties stretching into the wee hours of the morn, we placed behind us. The last long weekend of the season. Labor Day, was past and Amherst once again prepared for the return of its 18,000 students. They came in cars, VW buses, and U-Hauls as the generation on the go was moving, moving in to school. Lots and driveways became impene- trable as people milled about aimlessly, unloading suitcases, boxes, and bags of every shape and size; their contents containing each individual ' s life style for the next nine months. Dorms, apartments, and houses were crowded with the influx of former residents and new people establishing themselves. The campus was alive again, as each of us envisioned the year ' s traumas and ecstasies unfolding before us. 13

Page 21 text:

TIME FOR A BRIEF SERENITY IN THE SOLACE OF ONE ' S OWN IDENTITY. I ' ve been here for awhile, and it seems to me that the University consists of two worlds. Each is different and separate but they occupy the same place. One is demanding, filled with core requirements, IBM cards, and reading lists. The other is challenging, containing hectic social life, people, friends and even some genuinely concerned profs. Sometimes I need the demand, but I prefer the challenge.