The flowers are beginning to fade and the leaves on the trees are starting to rust, which can only mean one thing; another fall season is upon us. And everyone is back on campus.The freshmen are here. Frolicking about in herds of twenty. Enjoying their newfound freedom by screwing each other nightly with the condoms from their RC's door. Having a grand old time.Sophomores are back. Figuring out who are still their friends after the housing lottery last year. At first it seemed like they had eight friends, then about four, and now one, their best friend, who they won't be talking to in about five weeks.Juniors are wandering about the place. Wondering where everybody went. Waiting to go away themselves. At any given time there are about thirty juniors on campus. That's about half as much as there are in Kiev, Ukraine studying Danish.All the seniors managed to sneak off campus. Finally. Permission to tap kegs, at long last, has been granted.The diversity is back. The racial rainbow as I like to call it. Even the pale people have a tan after summer. Groups of Asians, groups of Indians, groups of girls, groups of gays, groups of black people, groups of whitish people, groups of political people, groups of freaky people, all grouped together. What a beautiful thing.Sports people are back. Playing sports. Carrying the banner of one of the most highly touted sports schools in the entire east side of Providence. Playing for a university with the athletic prowess of a bear. Doing the whole sports-crazy community real proud. Immortalizing themselves with glory. Protest people have been quiet so far. Must be gearing up. Have a big two months ahead of them. Has protesting become passé? I hope not. But I'm not going to march down the street behind it.Party people are back. Walking the streets in skirts and slacks and smiles. Waiting to be let in. Ending up kicked out. Or leaving when the beer is done. Back in their own beds. Party people don't party hard enough. Creepy people do.Pretty people are strutting about. Looking good. Why do pretty girls got to be so tall? And so damn pretty? Pretty boys, why? Why the collars, why the chains, why the confidence? What the gel?Freshman girls are searching for soulmates. Sophomore girls are searching for sweethearts. Junior girls are searching for sex. Senior girls are searching for spouses.Freshman guys are looking for anything. Sophomore guys are looking for something. Junior guys are looking for nothing. Senior guys are looking for everything.The weird people are back. Wearing weird stuff, with weird stuff pierced, talking weird stuff. I'm weird. I'll admit it. I'm weird. But some people around this place are weirder. They just better embrace it. There is nothing sadder than a weird person who tries to act normal. And if you're dressed weird you'd better be weird. The nerds are swarming about. So psyched. Hustling from class to class, wearing a back-pack and carrying a briefcase, waving at you big when they pass. There is no one who is as happy to see you as a nerd. Even if they don't sneeze, God bless them.Frat guys are back. You can tell because they march around campus in a line with their thumbs up each others asses. And a trail of 20 girls following them, swooning and sweating all over. The stoners are certainly here again. You don't see a stoner before noon, and if by chance you do, don't say hello. We're dreaming. Stoners sleep walk until they wake up, which is long after they get out of bed.The Hope High kids are back at high school. If you are ever feeling a little nostalgic for days past, hallway gossip and half romances, at 3 p.m., on a school day, stand on the side of Thayer Street for about 10 minutes, and you will see the loudest, most amazing parade of your lifetime. Just a stream of high school kids coming at you full-strength from the moment they hear that final bell.The community is back. Professors and beggars, police and deans, janitors and other general job-doers. Shuttle drivers are back doing laps, shops owners are back running shops and safety officers are back opening doors. Everyone who is coming back is back. Even prospective people are back. Tourists are already tearing about the campus in two-file lines behind their backwards tour guides who are pointing at buildings built and in-process. Yes, frisbees are flying and students are studying once again atop College Hill.The Hill has been filled. East Providence repopulated, Brown reborn. Another semester is ahead of us, and after being away last year, I welcome it, and everyone, with arms wide open.
Gavin Shulman '05 is an English concentrator.
