What have you learned about college life?
This is an actual essay I wrote for my freshman English class about my pet brick. I got an A on it.
It always amazes me that no matter the place or the reason, I will find some reason to hate an inanimate object. This “unusual” trend seems more dominate now that I’m in college.
For instance, the first week of school hailed the opening of a conflict with my refrigerator. I can’t fathom the reasons behind my refrigerator’s dislike of me at all, but there was tension. Fortunately, we resolved our differences, and all our disagreements appear to have faded into the past.
My alarm clock is an entirely different matter. I loathe that thing, and it also has an enmity toward me. That clock always misbehaves no matter how polite and courteous I am! I don’t understand it at all—could it be me? I’ve been nothing but good to that clock since I first received it, and all I get in return is grief and strife.
That, however, is a conflict of old; a new conflict has recently arisen. As part of a social event in our dorm, RHA invited new roommates to collaborate and paint a brick as a doorstep. I told my roommate that our brick would be our new pet since fish are the only domestic animals allowed in a dorm. We planned for the arrival of our brick with the excitement of new parents. Then, the day finally came. We had our pet, newly christened Roderigo, to protect us and help keep our door open. But the next day, he and I immediately got off on the wrong foot. Our dorm room again is filled with tension as Roderigo and I sit on opposite sides warily watching each other, waiting for one or the other to make the first move.
Now what anyone may well ask is the point of this story? I don’t really know or care truthfully. For the sake of humanity, however, I will attempt to formulate one. Ready? Roderigo and all my former foes symbolize my uncertainties and weaknesses. I am unwilling to compromise or explore ways to deal with either. My conflict with the refrigerator reveals that I eventually do—so there is hope for Roderigo and? I guess? Yet more importantly, Roderigo signifies all the difficulties that university life will bring me. All I need to do is take college life one step at a time, and the first will be to apologize to my pet brick.
Roderigo, I’m sorry.
Problem solved.
—by Sarah Dzida (2000)
Author’s Note: My freshman roommate and I also had a pet rock named “Brickie.”