Kutztown: A Short Story

“It’s a funny thing, coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realize what’s changed is you.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald The night before I left my home to start school at Kutztown, I cried. I slept next to my mom in her room, surrounded by stuffed animals around my body from my youth, tears streaming down my face. I was scared, nervous, and uncertain about my future. The idea of going to this new place, with new faces, and new beginnings excited me, but choked me at the time. I didn’t know what to think. My anxiety was at an all time high. The first night at Kutztown, I laid in my bed staring at the concrete, white walls, next to a girl I hadn’t known more than a couple months, wondering if this was it. I had spent most of the day unpacking what seemed to be a hundred boxes, transforming a bare dorm into my home for then next year. Cassie and I quickly grew into friends. The idea of making friends in college is something scary. I honestly didn’t know how I was going to do it. I was voted “Most Outgoing” for my class in high school, but I had felt it was nothing more than just a plague. Slowly, but surely, I felt the transition of college ease on me. Somehow,
I let go of what dragged me down and focused on what’s in front of me. I became aware that if I wanted others to understand what I was going through, I would have to be vocal about it. I first told my family I had been diagnosed with SAD, or seasonal affective disorder. Seasonal affective disorder usually happens around the same time every year. It is more common for it to occur in the fall until the spring months. For me, I had experienced feeling low, oversleeping, and high anxiety. I researched about light box therapy, which is used to mimic natural outdoor light, causing a change in brain chemicals linked to