Emily Thomas

10 October 2016
Honors 100, Assignment 1

I grew up an hour from the University of Washington campus. The majority of my

immediate family is composed of proud huskies. We used to visit to see the cherry
blossoms in the spring, and I knew all the best coffee shops in the area long before I had a
student identification card. My first official visit was in spring of 2015. My best friend
and I spent it talking about universities far away: New York University and Oxford,
Princeton, Notre Dame, anywhere, everywhere but here. There was no need to pay
attention; we wanted an adventure, and the University of Washington was a home.
Six months later, I opened the application. The University of Washington is one of
the United States' top research universities, and besides, it was somewhere I knew I could
be happy. Still, when I thought of the years ahead, I imagined getting off a plane, and
meeting new people, and looking at a brand new skyline every day. I imagined being
terrified. I imagined being brave. I did not imagine seeing the space needle from my roof.
I didn't think of how spectacular that would be.
In fact, up until the moment the Honors Program acceptances came in, the choice
seemed clear. I was going to New York City! It would be spectacular! I would be in a
brand new place, where I didn't know anybody at all, and it would be an adventure. Of
course, the acceptance for the University of Washington Honors Program did come in,
and with it came realizations. Suddenly, the upcoming year was not a dream, and I
remembered: I am pursuing an education in order to learn. Going away would be a
brilliant whirlwind of a thing, but the University of Washington Honors Program is full of
brilliant whirlwinds, and I want to be one too. I want to change the world.
My thinking changed dramatically. My adventures, I decided, hesitant and pained,
would be smaller. I would attend the University of Washington, and explore anything and
everything--math, science, literature, art. I would ask questions. I would learn. In this
place, I would find my passion, and use it to help people. I took a deep breath, and
ignored my doubts. I do not need to move across the world to learn to change it.
Of course, moving is required regardless, and September twenty third found me
standing on Terry Hall's rooftop patio. I had never been up there. The skyline looked new.
I could see the space needle, and it was spectacular. September twenty fourth saw me
approaching a brand new group of people. I was terrified. I took a deep breath and
remembered: I want to be brave.
On my first day of classes, I found a new coffee shop. Unbidden, a thought popped
into my head, and I laughed. This may be an adventure after all.