12.11.15 The feel of winter wind

I remember the outrageous pleasure at being away from  family, waking up with bunches of females your age, sharing bathrooms and common space and racing off to meals and classes, learning to navigate it all. 

I can remember the feel of the winter wind on your legs as you climbed up the hill away from the dorm, juggling badly organized books and notebooks, weary with the workload and teachers who had me at their kitchen tables so many nights, for help. 
The outrageous freedom from so much one would not choose, just being there.
The challenges and fears of getting to know everyone and see if you could manage it....nothing compared to what many of us left behind us. But the school was a dream, even with its imperfections. Every class   was excellent. 

Art Building each afternoon after school? I kept wondering who the hell thought this idea up.And was it going to last. Hands down the biggest gift in  life for decades, that liberation.