Chris


    Chris arrived on campus in the late afternoon. He was to report to Stoggard Hall which was one of several dorms set aside for incoming freshmen. He was astonished at the old world feel of the campus located in the middle of the Southern Illinois flatlands. It was as if he had stepped onto the campus of Oxford University. All the buildings were in a Gothic style. It could easily be the movie set of a Dracula movie. It didn’t help that he arrived on a foggy dusk evening when the shadows of the towers and spires blanketed the ground with eerie darkness.


    His admissions packet had a map which did not do the campus justice. He had to pull over on the side of the street to get his orientation. Stoggard was a couple of blocks from him but hidden from the main road among thick dark oak trees. Luckily, the streetlights had illuminated so he was able to see the street signs. The font of the street signs was in Olde English script and difficult to decipher. He could, however, make out Stoggard Avenue and drove towards the sign.


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    The campus was teeming with groups of students arriving on campus. Many of them must be upper classmen since they seemed to instantly know each other. They all looked older even though they were only two or three years older than him. Chris figured that the stress of college must add several years to one’s appearance. One thing that stood out to Chris was how happy everyone was against the solemn foreboding background of the university architecture. The dissonance between the cheerful attitude of the people and the dark Gothic setting left Chris uneasy.


    Chris found a spot close to the dorm. He decided he was going to check in first before bringing in any of his clothes and other items that reminded him of home. His car was a midsize used domestic sedan, so he was able to pack it full of items. He instantly noted that most of the other cars were foreign and were much newer than his family hand-me-down sedan.


    “Okay, here goes,” Chris said to himself as he got out of his car and walked toward the Gothic dormitory. “Today, I’m a new guy.”