Second Year in Review: Time Flies

At the risk of sounding cliché, it feels like just yesterday I was writing my “First Year in Review” blog. Now here I am, officially done with finals for my sophomore spring semester (try to say that ten times fast) and less than a week from my journey back home for the summer. I had a transformative year—there’s no denying that—but I’m happy to say that I’m still so glad I chose Whitman.

When I returned to campus last August, I was immediately thrust back into the swing of things. On my very first day back, I had a rehearsal for Summer Shakespeare. I also got to meet my new housemates in the Writing House and my friends were all trying to coordinate a time to have our first hangout of the year. After such a boring summer, it was pretty overwhelming to suddenly be busy again, but it was the good kind of overwhelming where you’re having too much fun to worry about how little sleep you’re getting. (Oops! Don’t try this at home.)

Things settled down a bit by the second week of classes, and I found myself falling in love with the Writing House. From my absolutely amazing housemates—who were sophomores, juniors and seniors—to the hidden cabinets, closets and drawers containing unimaginable treasures, I was hooked. I especially, enjoyed meeting new people at the campus-wide cookie decorating party we hosted last fall. As the resident assistant, I got to plan these types of events as well as host brunch regularly for the entire Interest House Community.

While I could tell you about my favorite classes (Geologic History of the Pacific Northwest with Pat Spencer in the fall and Chemistry in Art with Machelle Hartman in the spring) or the place I spent the most time outside of my house (the bookmaking studio in the Fouts Center for Visual Arts, no question), the truth is my time in the Writing House and the Interest House Community in general were the best and most influential parts of my year.

With summer fast approaching, I want to leave you all with a nugget of wisdom. Find your place. Keep searching until you find where you belong, where you feel most at home, the place where you’re happier than you’ve ever been. I’m lucky enough to have found that place here at Whitman—a place like no other.

Zoe Perkins is a rising junior from Hillsboro, Oregon. She is majoring in Rhetoric, Writing and Public Discourse major and is serving as the 2023 Writing House Resident Assistant. Zoe found abandoned duck eggs this spring and attempted to raise them as her own. As it turns out, the eggs were not fertilized.