I never thought I’d find myself writing to put off doing homework, but here I am. I’ve been dragging myself through accounting homework for the past two hours and need a brief escape from liabilities and gross profit ratios. I know, I know. How could anyone actually tire of such exciting concepts, right? Wrong.
This past weekend was full of visitors. On Friday night, my friend Rae came to visit from Virginia Tech. As soon as we got over the initial excitement of actually being in the same place after six-ish weeks of separation, we automatically switched gears and had the “how’s college” conversation. Even though our universities are very different, we had more or less the same freshman year experiences to share with each other. Both of us had known what we wanted to do with our lives since we were young and had spent high school preparing accordingly. I’d wanted to be a veterinarian, so I spent hundreds of hours in animal shelters and worked at pet stores. She’d wanted to be a special education teacher and took a month or more out of each summer to volunteer at a camp for autistic children. Within our first semester of college, we both let go of those dreams entirely. Going from a strategically planned high school and college career to one with absolutely no direction at all is a frightening thing to do. I used to have an answer when people asked me what I wanted to do with my life, but now I have to respond with an awkward shrug. I’m so afraid of not knowing and it’s nice not to be the only one.
Our other visitors were Mallory’s parents and sister, Carly. They drove all the way from Tennessee to buy us food, sew sorority letter shirts, and identify various ducks by the sound of their quacking. For their first night, we all ate at KubaKuba, a Cuban restaurant near Cary Town. It was small and relatively inexpensive, with an authentic and casual atmosphere. The huge crowd that had amassed by the time we left was bulging out the door onto the street. The food was delicious – props to Mallory for the recommendation! That Saturday was Valentine’s Day. While Meg, Nellie and I spent our day eating Reese’s Cups and watching everything but romantic movies, the Young clan walked around Cary Town and visited the Edgar Allen Poe museum. The Poe Museum was more or less a condition on for Carly to even come on the trip. Because, you know, seeing her sister was simply not enough 
I’ve never been, but I’ve heard its worth going to. if you ask Carly, it’s apparently worth driving ten hours for. I’m not sure most Richmonders would agree…
Oh no he di’int. Nevermore!
I have a feeling this sort of thing is frowned upon…opps.
Sunday was more low-key. We went to church in the morning, ate Chinese food, and came back for a walk around campus. Having Mallory’s family here was refreshing. It may seem bizarre, but it’s easy to get tired of interacting almost exclusively with people between the ages of 18 and 25. It’s not even that you miss your family. Sometimes, you just miss families in general. Taking a walk around campus with Mr. and Mrs. Young reminded me of all the reasons I love Richmond. They aren’t here too often, so when they see or experience different parts of my college, it’s still new and exciting. Mrs. Young kept snapping pictures (we pretended it bothered us, but seriously, what 18 year old girl doesn’t like being photographed?) and telling us how our school was so beautiful. When we ate at Dhall, the three of them went on about how delicious the food was while Mallory, Nellie, Meg and I were chomping at the bit to get off campus.
So we have epic stick battles at the Greek Theater. What of it?
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Young, Thank you for buying me so much food!! Sincerely, Alison
Perhaps the most wonderful thing the Youngs reminded us of was the fact that spring break is only TWO WEEKS away! I plan on exploding with joy on the Friday morning that classes let out. When I get back, I get to host a Richmond Scholar Interviewee. Congratulations to all of you who received letters inviting you to come to campus! We’re all excited to have you!
Have a great one - sorry for the slight delay in posting this week!
