Goodbye Boston: Reflections of My Past 7 Years – Part 4

The year was 2016.

It started with my second semester of junior year, which was very rough, resulting in one of my lowest GPAs for a semester. At the time, I was struggling with school. I didn’t enjoy any of the classes. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy my major at all. I hated biomedical engineering, but I figured that I was already too far invested to switch at that point.

One cold evening in early February, some of my friends invited me to go to Portland, Maine. I thought it’d be fun, until they told me that it would be a night trip. They planned to rent a car at 8pm and drive 2 hours to Portland and spend the night in the city. At first I was hesitant, but they managed to convince me to come. I also had late classes the next day.

The five of us ended up spending several hours wandering about Portland at night. Even though we didn’t do much, it was still exciting to be spontaneous. I also bonded with my friends.

Aside from that one night, the rest of that semester passed quickly. Between all the hours I spent in the engineering lounge studying or talking with classmates, I went to a lot of parties with my frat brothers. They were fun but not very memorable to be honest. I usually just showed up, got drunk, and played pong, before walking home.

What an outdoor party looked like

I also attended a few formals. Formals are organized parties at a specific venue in Boston. I went to a couple for Greek Life and another one for College of Engineering. They were fun.

That summer, I went back home to China with my mom. I came back around June and moved to an apartment in Allston, because I had an internship. My mom even let me borrow the family car and keep it in Boston. I got to park it at my friend’s place.

That summer was really fun. My internship was pretty easy for a 9-5. I did spend a lot of time commuting though. I also chose to take local roads, because I was scared to drive on the highway. In hindsight, I should’ve taken the highway to work.

I moved into an apartment with a friend from class. We got along pretty well, so I wanted to try living off-campus. That summer was fun, and we got to hang out a lot. He also introduced me to It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, which became one of my favorite shows.

I also started to work out and self reflect. I went to the gym often. At first, it was intimidating, because I had never lifted weights before. Before the more I did, the more I became confidant. I also started to eat more, so I gained muscle and weight quickly. I felt happy that summer. I was physically and mentally healthy.

Underneath Zakim Bridge, there is a illuminated walkway

Lawn on D at night is always the best time to go

Once summer ended, I started my last year of undergrad.

That first semester was rough. My courses were really hard once again. I didn’t like the place I lived at. I also was stressed about my senior project, which I worked on with two others. We didn’t know each other beforehand, so we were not close and got along only as classmates.

I also didn’t do many exciting things. I continued to hang out with my existing friends and went to frat parties. I also started going out to bars and clubs more with my classmates, since we were all 21 by then. It was cool to explore more of the city, but it also got expensive.

I also went to two more formals. One was on a boat.

Overall, 2016 was decent. The best part was definitely that summer, but I’ve had fun during the year as well. I was also sad that college was about to end soon.