Familiarity makes me feel powerful—and
not in the “do-what-I-say” or “I-know-better-than-you” sense
of powerful, but in the quiet confidence kind of way that comes with
being sure of what I'm doing.
I'm headed into week three weeks of my sophomore year
at Brigham Young University. My freshman year was fantastic and
though I haven't been a sophomore long, I've already figured out my
favorite thing about it: familiarity.
I've always been one for familiarity.
I'm not change's loudest cheerleader. Actually, I'm rarely in the
squad at all. I prefer consistency and being comfortable in what I'm
doing.
Familiarity is knowing your major and
the classes that will get you there. It's knowing several professors
in that field and waving to them across campus.
Familiarity is knowing all the acronyms
for the buildings on campus. It's being the one people desperately
ask for help when they're late and can't find their classrooms. It's
knowing the nooks and crannies of Learning Suite and immediately
being able to tell which of your professors will never get the hang
of it.
Familiarity is knowing the best corners
to study in and where the WiFi is weakest. It's knowing how to
navigate the 10-minutes-between-classes traffic. And that is an
essential skill for survival. Especially when you have to be
swallowed into the funnel by the Library, JFSB, SWKT, and Science
Center to be spit out into the open air again.
Familiarity is knowing when and where
they'll have free food and which lines are worth standing in for it. It's
knowing when the best and worst times are to walk through the Wilk.
It's knowing which microwaves have the shortest lines. It's knowing
which printers are always unreliable and where the next closest one
is. And then you hope and pray that that one isn't broken too.
Familiarity is having only one class
where you don't know anyone on the first day. It's being shocked
when you go an entire day without seeing someone from an old class,
ward, dorm, or hometown. It's not caring what people think when you
go running across campus to scream, laugh, and hug your
friend—whether you haven't seen them all day or all semester.
Familiarity makes me feel powerful—and
not in the “do-what-I-say” or “I-know-better-than-you” sense
of powerful, but in the quiet confidence kind of way that comes with
being sure of what I'm doing.
