My Last First Day of School

by Drew Holmes

I was in my bed at the Madison Hotel in Madison, NJ and the sun was not yet fully awake. The day before I had driven over 250 miles with my parents from Massachusetts, the only state I had ever called home. Now there was one mile left to our destination, Drew University, where I was about to become the first member of my family to attend college.

Growing up in a small-ish town is a bit different. With few exceptions, my kindergarten classmates walked beside me at high school graduation. Our senior class had 162 graduates, so not only was I the only one attending Drew, but I was also likely the only one in the state of New Jersey.

Every face and experience would be new. Aside from camp and summer programs, I had not had a roommate, ate primarily in a cafeteria, or shared bathroom. Everything was going to be different.

As we approached the main gate these thoughts swirled in my head. Then a new one rose to the surface: everyone else is in the same situation. My new classmates had also left home to be here. None of them had ever done this before. At least for today, we were all equal in our knowledge and experience.

When we are feeling out of sorts, it is easy to assume no one else also feels that way. Since taking over Boomer Music, I cannot count the number of times I have felt underprepared for the task at hand or overwhelmed at the myriad of choices. In those times it seems as if everyone else knows something I do not.

During the height of the COVID crisis, we were faced with daily choices that had no obvious right or wrong answer. From staffing to scheduling to procedures, every decision felt like a high wire act, as if everything would tumble to the ground with the next breeze.

In those moments I thought back to that last mile until arriving at college: If it is hard for me, it is hard for everyone. Overcoming challenges is not a burden, but an opportunity to learn and to grow. A chance to expand knowledge and skills and put them to new uses. To riff on Ryan Holiday’s fantastic book, The Obstacle is the Way, obstacles can be walls that block our path or stepping stones that make the way passable. Whether they help or hinder is for us to choose.

My dad drove the car past the Athletic Forum and we found our way to Welch Hall, my new home. With the help of the Orientation Committee (The Might O.C.!) I got my stuff moved upstairs and settled into my room. That day I met a whole new group of people I never could have encountered back in Massachusetts. Some were blips on the radar, while others are still lifelong friends. None of it would have happened if I had not gone out of my comfort zone by going away to school. Today, just like that first day of school, I remember: if it is hard for me, it is hard for everyone.