“College is nothing but a high school with ashtrays.” My friend Ron left me this original advice before I left for college on August 30th. In the following weeks this cliché would seem prophetic. However, that would not be accurate today. It was September 1st and I was officially a college freshman. All my dreams were supposed to come true. The halls would be floored with intellectuals and the walls would be lined with philosophers. State College was my Ellis Island. It would be a far cry from my high school, whose classrooms were floored with punks and whose walls were lined with simpletons. The entire student body would be eager to debate and argue about the Bible, politics, philosophy—everything I love to talk about. “State College is the reincarnation of Plato’s academy,” I thought to myself as I kicked and jumped in my left pant leg. No one could convince me otherwise. All of these things were true. They had to be: This is college. No nervous stomach, no second thoughts, just an anxious heart. At 10pm on August 31st I was in bed. “You will be ready on Wednesday,” I told myself. Of course, my first class didn't start until eleven, and all summer I hadn't gone to sleep before two in the morning. But I had a feeling I had to be in bed by ten. Time always seems to be the tortoise when you want it to be the hare. This was one of the many thoughts that took refuge in my mind as the clock struck 11.59pm. When first period began, I lay motionless on my bed of rocks. During this time, I became strangely familiar with my new ceiling. Its imperfect construction, creased paint, and simple off-white shade comforted me. These otherwise imperceptible imperfections reminded me of home. Earlier that month, I exclaimed to my mother how eager I was to escape the penitentiary I called home, and now I had nostalgic thoughts about it. I laughed at the glaring irony and slowly fell asleep. At 10.45am I joined the procession of pupils heading to my first college class. Uniformity among the masses seemed like one of the many luxuries that freshmen were not deemed worthy of having. (The kindness on the part of most of the upper class men was one of the other things that stood out that day.