As the first semester of senior year winds down, I often find myself thinking back on my four years at Salve Regina, from the good times to the bad. Tomorrow is the half-way to graduation party at a local Newport bar, and I realize that I will soon be moving into the next step of my life. In a few months, I will be packing my bags and leaving Newport (and New England!) behind for good, and I think it is important to remember the good times I have had these past few years. And so follows my TOP (by top, I mean the good, the bad and the utterly humiliating) memories of Salve Regina University thus far, beginning with my freshman year:
1) Freshman Year Soccer Preseason, Pool Party: I spent four years trying to suppress a part of this memory, but I realized that I could not succeed in doing so until after relaying the event to my teammates. It had been a week and a half since I had even thought about eating my favorite food (cheeseburgers), so when my coach brought us to her parents house for a barbeque and pool party, I knew I would go overboard. After eating about three cheeseburgers and two hot dogs, I immediately began feeling sick to my stomach, and realized that I had to find a bathroom — and fast. Not so embarrassing, since no one knew what was going on. However, the bathroom did not have a lock on the door, which did not bother me and I just shut the door and raced to the pot. My coach’s mother, not realizing that someone was using the restroom, ended up just walking into the bathroom, her husband close behind. I don’t know who was in more shock – them or me – but as soon as I finished, I was ready to get back to campus and I don’t think I said another word to anyone until we were safely in the Salve vans.
2) Freshman year, Nights at the Il Primo: Ohhh how it sucked being 19 and in Newport. Absolutely everyone went out to bars on the weekend, leaving us freshies and sophomores to fend for ourselves. At least sophomores had cars and could escape to Providence when the weekend was looking grim, but us freshman had to figure out plans on our own. There were two clubs in Newport that allowed 18+ to party, but only one of the clubs served. The Il Primo. Because it was the only place to go in town, every freshman would line up to get in, and when it filled, they would hang out for a while before dejectedly heading to Via Via for some pizza. I spent many nights trying to get in to that place, but I only made it in there once – and it was definitely not what I expected. The bar was in a back corner and they only served certain types of beer – and they ran out quickly. Not to mention the fact that almost every weekend the cops would break it up by midnight.
3) Hanging out with the Westover Cult: Yes, they are a cult and they even admit it. Westover, not the girls themselves. My roommate went to Westover Academy and three of her friends came with her to Salve. Every weekend I would hang out with them and get closer and closer and now, I consider myself to be part of their cult (even though I went to a public high school).
4) The Infamous Fight: One of the nights that I spent trying to get into the Il Primo proved to be unsuccessful, and I was with a big group of girls who did not know what to do without the club. As a few of us stood in the middle of the street, a man strode up to a car that was stopped in the middle of the street. The man in the passenger seat began yelling at the guy in the street and before I knew it, the man in the street had grabbed the other guy by the throat and began pulling him out of the car window. Of course, I had never seen anything like this before, and began sprinting in my stilettos down the street, screaming, “We’re gonna get shot!!” I have yet to live that moment down.
5) America’s Next Top Model: My roommates and I rarely did work without the television on, and one weekend we came across a marathon of a new show: America’s Next Top Model. We became completely addicted and it ended up being our weekly show; we never missed an episode. This was the year that Ya-Ya should have beat Eva and Kaylyn should have won over Naima. Tyra and the judges just could not get it right this year!
6) The Snowstorm: Who wouldn’t love 3 days off from school in a row because Newport did not have a sufficient amount of plows to clear the streets? The 2-day weekend turned into a 5-day weekend and we went crazy! My roommates and I played in the snow on the cliffwalk and watched the crazy surfers that had the dedication to surf in the freezing weather because with the storm came some sick waves. Of course, by the time Thursday rolled around we had cabin fever and were ready to get back to school – one can only take so much shuffling cards and watching TV.
7) The Ships: Yes, this was the only year that my team made it all the way to the Championship game in the CCC Playoffs. It was an amazing feeling, to be known as one of the top teams in the conference – and I was only a freshman! I thought we had such promise to be a successful team throughout my entire career. Of course, I had not anticipated that half of the girls in my class would either quit the team or transfer. Both of the goalies quit and during my sophomore year, we had to manage with two goalies that were both really field players. And it all went downhill from there.
The Red Sox and My Yankees: The first time in a million years that the Red Sox won the World Series. My pooooor Yankees! That’s all that needs to be said.
9) The Time Change Comment: Anyone who thinks that Jessica Simpson is the ditziest person alive obviously has not met me. One of my roommates was from New York and was on the phone with her boyfriend when the Yankees and Red Sox were playing in the ALCS. Her boyfriend saw things 2 seconds earlier than us, which forced me to ask, “What is the time change from here to New York?” Now, I am NOT proud of this comment. I have family in New York that I visit frequently, and I never change my clock when I go there. However, later on in the year, I was at breakfast with my roommates and a couple of our other friends and we were talking about going home to vacation. My roommate mentioned New York, and I again asked, “What’s the time change to New York?” My roommates glared at me and started laughing, pointing out that this was not the first time that I had asked this question, and I just hung my head.
10) Deterring Recruits: I know. I know. I’m a horrible person. But it was an interesting situation and the recruit asked me to be honest. I was brutally honest. It was embarrassing and I never did it again. And I got in trouble by the upperclassmen. Never give a recruit to me!!!!
And that concludes my TOP 10 MEMORIES from freshman year of college. Stay tuned for sophomore year memories in an upcoming entry…………….
