a chronological guide to endless joy

of friends, fun, and farewells

by Aditi Marshan

After four years at Brown, I have amassed a list of the must-do things that I credit with having made my time so special. Treat it like a bucket list, treat it like a guide, or treat it like a nostalgic senior’s reflection on her happiest years.

1. Against all odds, make your first friends. You’re moving continents to be here, and you don’t know it but you’ve hit the jackpot—the international orientation will hand you your first friends in this place.

2. Take any chance you get to swap words with someone that speaks a different language. What’s your word for “king”? What’s your word for “goddess”? For “beauty,” for “sorrow,” for “monster”? Don’t be surprised when you discover how many words your languages share. You have four years to find them all. You’ve met Aaron and together you’ll build your own language.

3. When the girl from a city you’ve never heard of wants to take you down to Waterfire, go with her. Walk in the warm yellow glow, magnified a million times by the folds on the river’s surface. Look, listen, and learn— you’ve met Khushi. You don’t know yet why you see each other so clearly, why this feels so much like talking...