Ladies and gentlemen… I am off to college!

Well, a college campus. It’s certainly not the first time I’m headed to a campus—just ask my parents how many info sessions and tours they’ve had to plow through so far. But this is a bit different: I’m headed to a summer program at the campus of Brandeis University, where I’ll be dorming and living for the next month.

I’ve done sleepaway camp before—for three years, I went to Camp Dora Golding, and then did two years of the Yaalozu Wilderness Program. But this Brandeis program is a bit different. First and foremost, I’m actually allowed to bring a cell phone. There are guidelines about when we can and can’t use it on the program, but still—this is an absolute game changer! Just kidding. It’s nice, but I want to be able to meet people and be talkative, not sit on the side playing Candy Crush during my spare time. But of course it’s still different in many other ways than a traditional summer camp program. It’s on a college campus instead of a sprawling sleepaway camp, I’ll be taking interesting courses instead of doing endless sports, and overall the feel is going to be much different, I’m sure. It’s hard to describe; maybe once I’m there I’ll be able to articulate the difference a bit more clearly.

It’s all a bit surreal, really. After endless research on colleges and too many visits and discussions, I’m actually going to get a small taste of what college life is like. (Full disclosure: I am considering attending Brandeis as well, and may even have my interview during the program, so this trip does tie into the whole “pre-college” journey to some extent.) I’ll have a roommate, and I’ll be taking courses and getting a feel for living in a place that’s wildly different from home. With college or college-like programs, I feel that I’ll have a sense of independence that I haven’t gotten before. I’ll be away from home (Mom and Dad, I’ll be sure to give you both a call sometimes!) and will have to start making my own decisions, not to mention doing my own laundry. Which is scarier? I’m not sure—I’ve done some laundry before, but those machines can be tricky.

Of course it’s a bit nerve-wracking. I’m sure I’ll make friends and that it’ll go well, but I can’t deny that I feel a bit nervous about how it’s going to go. Will I feel like a part of the community? Will I manage to adjust quickly? Or will I feel separate and often get too homesick? (I spent too much time in my room this past year because of studying, so I won’t miss my room, per se, but everything else…) I’ll be meeting a lot of new people with varying degrees of religious affiliation (the program is Jewish but open to anyone regardless of their level of observance). Being fully Modern Orthodox myself, will I feel detached from many of my peers who follow Judaism differently or will I still feel connected to them? I accept everyone regardless of their Jewishness, but sometimes when it comes to Shabbos and Kashrut, things can get tricky (e.g., I won’t say anything to a non-religious friend traveling someplace on Shabbos, but I can’t join in).

I’m sure I have nothing to worry about. All of my friends who did this program last year loved it, and so far everyone doing it this year that I’ve met via Facebook has been friendly and accepting. And I’ve already been learning how to still be good friends with people who have different levels of observance than I do throughout my high school career; it really shouldn’t be an issue. But I’ll know the solutions to these anxieties soon enough. And they aren’t just anxieties about this specific program; they apply to my soon-to-begin college career as well.

That’s where this program fits in, when it comes to the long-term scope of my life right now. I’m very excited to be in a writing program where I can improve my favorite skill and meet people who have the same strong interest in writing that I do. But I’m also looking forward to getting a taste of college life and getting a sense of how I’m going to fit into it when it comes.

Now, I thought about putting my column on hiatus while I’m away, but given that I’m doing an arts program and will be “majoring” in writing, that didn’t seem so logical. I’m also hoping to be able to provide a new type of perspective, given that I’m doing a sort of program that I’ve never done before. I’m wondering what my first week there will be like… Stay tuned for Part 2 to find out! (For all I know right now, Part 2 will be all about my struggles with the laundry machine… although that wouldn’t really make for interesting reading, would it?)

Oren Oppenheim, age 17, is a rising senior (yes, he did survive junior year!) at Ramaz Upper School in Manhattan and lives in Fair Lawn, NJ. He spends his free time writing and reading, and hopes to become a published novelist, but currently is drowning in emails from colleges. You can email him at [email protected] and see his photography at facebook.com/orenphotography.

By Oren Oppenheim