As the long, hot summer days melt away into a dustier – and hotter – autumn before long, you can feel how school is right around the corner.
Yet, as I trade my green and gold Patrick Henry identification card for the blue and gold of UC Irvine, the dusty Santa Ana fall breeze carries with it a completely new set of tasks and feelings.
Instead of looking for the right color notebook to go with each subject I’ll be taking, I find myself endlessly scrolling through dorm inspiration on Pinterest. No longer am I comparing classes with friends, talking about how exciting it’ll be to have math or French together. Instead, I’m saying goodbye to many of them, as they start school right here in San Diego, or travel upstate, to the East Coast, or even as far as Canada for college.
Many of us incoming freshmen on the UC quarter system won’t be going to college for another month and a half. Yet with all the changes already underway, I feel mounting excitement, anxieties, and expectations about what these next four years will bring: new friends, novel experiences, innovative courses, and hopefully, the new me that comes out the other side, ready to tackle the challenges the world throws at me in four years.
Questions and concerns at the next level
The first thoughts that rushed through my mind as I imagined heading off to college were endless questions and concerns: Will I find my place and sense of community at Irvine? Will I locate people with whom I connect? Am I ready for the challenge of college courses?
But those concerns were immediately alleviated when I attended my two-day-long orientation at Irvine, where I felt warmly welcomed by staff, orientation leaders, and peers alike.
I couldn’t believe how much I connected with my roommate for the two-day period when we talked until 2 a.m., or the group of girls with whom I got boba, talking about hopes and dreams for college as much as we laughed over dumb jokes, or the wonderful orientation leader who told me after I discussed with her about rushing service-based sororities: “Amelia, I think you’re really going to like it here.” And I believe her.
After my orientation, I can already envision myself in focused classes in art history, environmental science, and archeology, filled with peers with whom I can connect over our shared passion for the topics.
I can already see myself digging my hands into the earth in the Gardening Club, reaching a peak and staring out at a beautiful vista as a part of the Adventure Club, or roaming the galleries of art museums with my peers in the Art History club.
I can’t wait to keep the confidence and passion I had in high school, while growing into a more thoughtful and educated person during my time at UCI.
It’s nerve-racking to leave behind an identity you’ve built for yourself over four years of high school, if not all 13 years of grade school.
But simultaneously, the leap to college is wonderfully liberating. It’s a chance to redefine, and refine, who you are.
Patrick Henry High School prepared me for this
If there’s anything that my time at Patrick Henry prepared me for, it’s how to face the rigor and unpredictability of athletics, academics, and passions. You emerge as a stronger, more confident, and capable person than you were before.
I trust that all of us from Patrick Henry – whether we’re heading off to Canada, the East Coast, somewhere nationwide, or staying local – will continue to refine who we are in college, coming out stronger and bolder by the end.
Amelia Kirkegaard is a 2025 Patrick Henry High School graduate. She will be attending UC Irvine in the fall.
