Monday closed the Knights with Scholars event that made me want to come to Gannon. I watched high school kids walk through AJ’s Way with oversized duffle bags and rolled-up sleeping bags alongside their parents. If I didn’t know any better, I might call it a Girl Scouts event.
Four years later, I walked around these kids unknowingly after bargaining with myself to get out of bed. If it’s not the weather, it’s the very mention of another Monday. There’s just nothing encouraging about being greeted by another layer of snow the minute you wake up.
When I started Gannon, I followed the formula many freshman students take for the semester and latched on to a group of about 10 people. That group dissolved by the spring semester, but we still have our share of inside jokes for those of us still on speaking terms.
We used to congregate in my friend Brian’s room on the fourth floor of Finegan and claim to be “colleging” as we made noble attempts on homework assignments to the soundtrack of cheesy horror movies and Led Zeppelin.
Maybe it was the structure of introductory courses, but it was honestly a miracle I managed to earn nothing less than a C in the sciences I was taking freshman year. I’m sure you could care less about my study habits, so I’ll cut to my confession.
I’ve hit a rut this semester. Blame it on seasonal depression or an early onset senioritis, but I have no desire to college this week.
As I watched high school students trek back to get rides with their parents Monday, I could see the excitement in their faces. University life looks sparkly and perfect when all you have is a college brochure of kids studying in the green lawn.
I still thank God for the high school English teacher who told us “College is not like the brochures, guys. Nobody sits happily in the grass.”
That’s especially a myth in Erie. I don’t even know what grass looks like anymore. Yes, that’s hyperbole, but I’m not taking it back.
When you come to an institution of learning that only experiences three or four months of decent weather per year, it’s hard to see the bright side. Literally.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Gannon. Having professors who genuinely care about you beyond their gradebooks makes a huge difference, and I think our faculty realize that.
Many of the faculty I’ve talked with concerning class or otherwise are willing to talk about life outside Palumbo or the SCA building, and sometimes that’s all you need — someone to talk to.
One thing I do miss after spending nearly six semesters here is that spunk that prospective students bring with them. These kids are curious, excited and captivated by the histories hidden in Waldron and Gitnik Manse.
I know because I’ve been there. After a while, you become conditioned to campus and everything blends together.
One thing I never got used to was the wind’s ability to take any grogginess out of my 8 a.m. walking commute and the eternal winters that make Erie infamous.
Still, I think there’s a certain contract I’ve reached with this damned perpetual snow. All I can think to do is throw a coat on and hope for the best.

KELSEY GHERING
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