By
Coco Liu ’22
Date
As academics and campus events start to pick up, life at Kenyon is getting busy. I often find myself running from classes to meetings, from Wiggin coffee dates to walks along Middle Path. This fast-paced lifestyle brings a sense of normalcy back to the Hill for the first time since the pandemic hit last March. In the midst of absorbing every minute possible at Kenyon, I’ve been trying to savor and reflect on the tiny moments that make this quaint little place so dear to my heart. Here are some highlights from this semester thus far:
- Fairytale life: Have you ever had the illusion of living in a painting? I sat down by the window for dinner the other night at Peirce. Overlooking the Hill, the evening sun had tinted the faraway horizon pink and orange like stained glass in a church. The trees on top of the hill across from us were sewed onto the cotton candy sky, almost making me believe that mountains existed in Ohio. It was serene. Pulling my attention back to the table, my lovely dinner date sitting across from me asked how my chicken parmesan was.
- Supportive mentor: My lab professor asked how my week was going during our regular meeting. All I can tell you is that ranting to a professor about an immature boy is more than satisfying.
- Study session: I was in a New Apartment reading about health care economics when one of my friends put on jazz as study music. If you have not listened to “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” by Cannonball Adderley, promise me you will give it a try.
- Late night pump-up: My housemate stood in front of our bathroom mirror and stared at herself for a minute. Then, she announced to our entire house, “Dang, I am beautiful.”
- Living like children: Winter in Ohio had not been so snowy in quite a few years. Someone came up with the idea of having a snowball fight as the Hill turned moonstone white. Middle Path became a battlefield. Before I knew it, there were chunks of snow coming at me from all directions. I quickly oriented myself to prepare for revenge. Only that … my not-so-coordinated body tripped over my own foot and dropped the snowball right in front of myself.
- Sunday brunch: What we call a power move is asking for eight French toast sticks in the servery and finishing them all as the entire meal. This is the perfect way to start a Sunday.
- Typical Tuesday: On a sunny Tuesday afternoon, I cracked my bedroom window open and the crisp February air danced into the apartment like ocean waves. Basking under the sunshine cast onto my desk, I was reading “Darwin’s Worms.” At that very moment, if contentment had a scent, it would smell like the Bolognese sauce my friends were making downstairs. If happiness had a ringtone, it would sound something like the friendly bantering about the choice of dessert. If gratitude became an image, it would look like a house-full of people I love living under one roof. This is a little home on the Hill. How the heck did I get so lucky?
Coco Liu ’22 is an economics and psychology double major, with a Spanish minor, from Cleveland, Ohio.