I found a shoe behind my projector

It was 4 AM, I was pissed at my Psets, searching for my passport, and altogether annoyed. On a whim I decided maybe my passport hid on the shelving above my desk (stolen from an alum, half a sawed Institute Desk frankenstein’d to a homemade piece, no legs in the middle just prayers for stability). When I looked up, I found a shoe behind my projector, also on these shelves.

My friends had come into my room (door’s open all the time, sometimes I find friends sleeping on my super-comfortable beanbag when I return), hidden shoes in places I didn’t expect, and waited for me to find them. It cheered me up immensely that in the middle of a shitty night, I discovered there was a game of hide-the-shoe in my room.

I don’t know if you understand what the things I’ve mentioned here mean to me, but there’s no denying that they mean I live in a community. A community with good friends, people who without even seeing me can cheer me up at 4 am when I’m angry with my work.

East Campus means community to me. A community that has its troubles with each other, and isn’t perfect. But sometimes, the shoes behind my projector remind me how much happier I am here than anywhere else.