Summer is over, people! Fall quarter 2026 at Highline College has officially begun! On Monday, Sept. 28, classes were officially in session. 

Owing to a timely reprieve from last week’s rain storms, a powerful current of students and faculty airily flowed down and around the slopes of the campus. While lingering chain-link fencing, large machinery, and mild dusty odors messed with the feng shui, this was mostly offset by the smile-inducing improvements to the parking lots and gardens throughout the grounds. 

As a brand new student to Highline, and to higher education as a whole, I was unaware of what to expect from my first days on campus. I had arrived very excited for my first college experience, a place where so many eager minds will cross in front of me, all sharing a value for learning. 

I could feel the extra adrenaline pumping and the franticness of some of my thoughts: “Where am I going? Am I smart enough to do this? Am I going to freak out? Am I too old? Why is there the biggest pile of dirt I’ve ever seen, towering in the middle of campus!?” 

Yet as I walked into a bustling Building 8, an unexpected calm came over me. That familiar academic buzz of people from all walks of life mingling, reminded me I was in a place of growth, open-mindedness and opportunity. And those concepts, which are oddly new to my life in many ways, got injected at that moment into my consciousness and gave me hope that I can succeed along with everyone else there with me.

As I made my way across campus on Monday morning, I observed as faculty and returning students caught glimpses of their past while new students peeked into their future. An oldtimer came up behind a friend they hadn’t seen in a while, spinning them around with a tap on the shoulder, eyes meeting. 

Newcomers, like myself, were facing all the little unknowns that come with finally placing boots on the campus ground. I had a certain jittery pep in my step, which perhaps was the case for most, as the traffic-filled paths briskly swept us along to class. Where professors, still slightly discombobulated after a much needed sunny season respite, as masters of their craft, quickly righted their ships.

I was able to speak with a few Highline students who shared their unique yet familiar feelings surrounding the start of the new academic year, and found within those conversations that I truly was not alone.

I sympathized with Miacol Gomez, a recent Evergreen High School graduate and first year student at Highline, who spoke about their experience arriving on campus for day one. “You’re not used to the faces you’re seeing and it’s a new atmosphere. … You have a lot of freedom here, which can be dangerous. … So time management was really important.” Well, at least Miacol and I have one less face we aren’t used to, and that feels pretty good.

“I was feeling super nervous on the first day, a mix of nerves and excitement! I really wanted to make a good first impression on these new people I was meeting,” said Emme Rossignol, a first year Running Start student, speaking about their first experience on campus. “Then I couldn’t find the class I was going to, and then when I found it, it had been moved to a different building, so I was super late to that one … I still had a fun first day anyways!” 

I honestly have to agree, even though I was confronting the same nerves and excitement as someone 14 years my junior, I was having fun! It’s like I was in a movie, skipping around, smiling at strangers. Maybe I’m not too old for this after all.

As the Highline population begrudgingly marches shoulder-to-shoulder toward the cold hard work of winter, as they attempt to connect with those around them and share in the warm comfort of forming part of a diverse community, I want to acknowledge the undeniable challenge it is for all, in these times, to be here, to have made it here. 

Well done on your first week.