Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012, October 03, 2003, Page 9A, Image 9

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    Lauren Wimer Photographer
Michele Taylor, an 18-year-old freshman from Gresham, stacks her belongings while her
friend, Tiphani Handy, goes to get another load to take to McClain Hall.
--■—
Lauren Winter Photographer
Jennifer French remains bored in her pre-calculus class and passes the time doodling.
She is also enrolled in three chemistry classes during her first term.
FRESHMEN
continued from page 8A
tions anymore.
"There was a girl in my social stud
ies class last year, she asked if the 13
original colonies ever got out of
British control," she says with disgust.
Meeting the roommate
French and her mother plod up
the gray, concrete stairwell in Mc
Clain I lall until they reach the fourth
floor. They enter the hallway and
walk to the fourth door on the right.
French slips the key in, turns it and
pushes the door open.
"Oh," they say.
The second bed, earlier empty and
cold, is covered in bags of clothes and
toiletries. A blue Adidas bag sits on the
middle of the bed. French has heard
her roommate is athletic and had been
a cheerleader in high school. Next to
the bag is a purple plastic basket full of
lotions, hair products and cleaners.
A television sits on the desk. But
no roommate.
They enter the dark room, sit
down, and talk.
Soon, two girls come down the
hallway chatting. Girls have been
coming and going for days, moving
in and exploring the complex. But,
suddenly, one of the girls sticks her
head around the corner.
"She's here!" the girl yells, grinning.
It is Michele Taylor, the roommate.
Taylor enters the room and gives
French a hug, introducing herself. She
meets French's mom, extending a
hand, and then introduces her friend
Tiphani Handy, who lives on the third
floor. They sit down on the bed and ex
change pleasantries, talking about their
trips and the process of moving in. Tay
lor jokes that her boyfriend was
"nowhere to be found" when she
moved her belongings upstairs.
"Those are cute shoes!" Taylor
bursts out.
"They'll kill your feet, though,"
French responds.
"Life as a girl," Taylor says.
They both grin and nod.
Taylor is an 18-year-old from Gre
sham. She graduated from Sam Bar
low High School last year and de
cided to attend the University to
study music.
"It's so exciting," she says. "I
watched my sister go through college.
I think a lot of people come here and
it's overwhelming. It's not scary; it's
exciting."
Like French, Taylor plans to find a
job at the University — any job. Also,
she is thrilled about her classes, and
hopes they will be more "sophisticat
ed" than they were in high school.
Unlike her roommate, Taylor
knows people at the University. I ler
boyfriend, Aaron Longo, also at
tends the University. 1 ler best friend
lives downstairs, and she has friends
to go out with on weekends. Last
weekend they took her to her first
Duck game.
"I had fun, except that 1 got burnt
and we lost," she says.
Familiar faces
The weekend before classes start
ed, French says she began feeling
homesick.
Saturday night she was in her
room, bored, when she says she re
ceived a phone call. It was her friend
loe Eriksen from Beaverton, asking if
she wanted to hang out.
French recalls confusion, but she
ended up saying she did.
"Good, we're ail downstairs,"
French remembers Eriksen saying.
French says she was surprised.
"I went downstairs, and it's every
body that's ever been to Aloha 1 ligh
School. ... I didn't even know they
were coming here," French says. "1
knew he was hanging out with a cou
ple of people from Aloha. I stepped
out the door and there were eight
people down there."
Contact the people/culture/
faith reporter
at jaredpaben@dailyemerald.com.
OFAM
KlUToo
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