One of the perks of being a college student is having the opportunity to in-teract with differet kinds of people. This allows us to learn much more about the world around us. And since we have all come together on this soon-to-be frigid campus in search of a higher education (that is why you came here, right?), the setup works quite well.

Although I personally am enjoying being surrounded by intelligent young adults for most of the day, sometimes I miss seeing a baby every now and then. While going through my daily routine of attending classes, hanging out with friends and pretending to be more productive than I actually am, I felt that something was missing. It was more than just plain old homesickness and the fact that I couldn’t go to and from the bathroom without running into half of the student body, but I just couldn’t place it. Skipping to last Satur-day morning, I dragged myself out of bed, determined to go to the farmer’s market and buy some of that delicious homemade goat cheese that I had heard about. Once I got there, I saw tents with all sorts of colorful goods manned by smiling people of all ages. People were looking at the wares with their dogs running excitedly around their legs while others shopped with their children in tow. It was an idyllic scene straight out of one of those cheesy Hallmark cards your grandmother sends you.

That was when I realized what was missing: I hadn’t seen a single kid or dog in weeks! I have spent most of my time with fellow students that are roughly around my age, profes-sors and university staff being the only frequent variation. I no longer see people taking their kids to school every morning. Instead, I am almost totally surrounded by my peers for most, if not all, of the day. To me, this is a completely new kind of community that resembles a sleep away camp more than anything else. I am in no way say-ing that this is a bad thing, just that it’s a different experience. This may not be so strange for people who have gone to boarding school. It’s yet another aspect of college life that I must adapt to.

But does this mean that a commu-nity like the one at Colgate is any less organic than that of your hometown? I don’t think so. Like any community, ours is constantly changing and evolv-ing. We live, work and have fun togeth-er while being unified by one name: Colgate University.

Contact Laura Rodriguez-P?erez at [email protected].