Kimmy’s Freshman Misadventures

Kimberley “Kimmy” Richardson looked out of the passenger side backseat window of her adoptive parents Toyota Camry and watched the clouds. On the radio some country song she heard a million times but never bothered to learn the name of or to like played as her parents asked her the same questions about college every few minutes.

The 18 year old is a recent high school graduate, meaning now it was time for her life to truly begin. Luckily for her the photography hobby she had throughout middle school and high school landed her a fairly decent scholarship at a university...that was 2 states away from her only real actual home. To say she was nervous was an understatement, and she wouldn’t deny that she was a little scared.

“What do you think you are going to like the most about college, sweetie?” her mom asked, putting on that faux excited voice she had put on ever since she learned Kimmy was going to be going to a university 2 states away. Looking up to the front of the car, Kimmy shrugged, and then after realizing her mother could not hear a shrug she replied “I don’t know, classes I guess.” It was a non answer, one meant to avoid her actual answer which was that she was actually looking forward to having some independence.

As a little girl, Kimmy was a part of the system, a victim of China’s push for a more male dominated culture, the young Asian child was put up for adoption and adopted surprisingly quickly. Her adoptive parents were perfect, and she can’t imagine being raised by anyone else...but she could not escape the feeling that they were always over protective of their adoptive daughter. Her friends at school used to joke that even with white parents she still couldn’t escape the stereotypical Asian parental standards.

She hated that joke.

“Oh well that’s nice, I’m sure you will do great, you certainly did well in high school!” her dad chimed in, turning his music down. Kimmy nodded, and then looked out of the window and let herself get lost in her thoughts again, with her eyes looking at the different clouds and her mind imagining them to be various people, animals, or objects.

The rest of the long ride to the campus played out much the same way, with infrequent conversation and long silences. But, after multiple hours of this, they finally arrived, and the shackles that chained her down were about to be unlocked, and then she would be set free. She do with his freedom? Kimmy had no idea. She knew that she wanted to be free of her parents, what did that really mean for her? Truth be told, despite feeling like she was to be an act a certain way, she never really fight against it. So as she got closer and closer to her new life away from her parents the idea of getting to say and do and be whatever she felt like was a very foreign feeling. It was one she needed to get used to.

Unfortunately, it was another two hours before she was truly free. First there were things that she needed moved up to her dorm room, like clothes, a mini fridge, and various little things one needed for a livable domicile. Then once everything was in her dorm she needed help arranging things in a stylish way around her side of the room, and that took even more time. And then there was a long talk she had with both of her parents about responsibility, avoiding overspending, and all the things she had heard and had drilled into her again and again her entire life.

Frankly the entire experience was more than a little exhausting, and by the time actual goodbyes came there were no tears. She was just happy to have it all just end. “I love you, sweetheart,” Her mom told her from her passenger side as her father prepared to pull out, “if you need anything we are just one phone call away!” Kimmy wanted to correct her mother and tell her that she was actually two states away, but she bit her tongue and avoided pointing out the obvious. “She knows, honey,” Her father thankfully said, “now come on we have a 5 Hour drive back home!” Her mom looked heartbroken, but she nodded and waved. Kimmy smiled and waved back and watched as her parents pulled out of the parking lot of her dorm building. She didn’t bother watching their car fade into the horizon, and instead she took the opportunity to go inside.

As Kimmy entered her dorm building a million thoughts began to fill her head. She was free, but what did that mean? What was she going to do? She had a few days before class, but what would she do with that time? She had a roommate, but judging by the dorm her roommate wasn’t here yet. What if her roommate hated her? Thoughts like these and more kept coming and coming and coming almost with each step she took up the stairs to her third floor dorm. When she got into her dorm she was finally able to get a good and quiet long look at it. It wasn’t a very big dorm, it was roughly the size of her room back home, which didn’t really help considering that she would be sharing this room with another person. It did help however that connected to the room was a bathroom, meaning she would be able to avoid using a communal one. The bathroom she did have was very small, but it had a shower, toilet, and a sink. Everything one would really need in the long run. Her appraisal of her surroundings however was interrupted by a knock at her door. The thought of her parents coming back and having a few last words made her heart sink, but she went to the door anyway, only to find someone who is most certainly not her father or her mother.