By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer

With fall semester anew, many of us have had to travel back to campus after a summer home or elsewhere. The ritual of packing up your life from the different places you belong can be difficult, but it can also be exciting. As a fourth-year student, the process has become a sort of reflex. I’ve developed an efficient routine that some may call “chaotic” or “rushed.” The type B in me can’t help it; if I must be early to all my classes, why should I prematurely arrive at the airport too? Here’s the advice I’d give my first-year self.

Day before your flight 

This is a good time to start packing, if you haven’t started already. You have likely accumulated a variety of mementos from your hometown. It is essential you bring all of them. Even the extra phone charger — which you will inevitably have to repurchase again next time.

Night before your flight 

You should check in to your flight. If you don’t do this ASAP, your seat options are going to be in the middle of the last row on the plane . . . or in the cubby the drinks cart parks in. You should also make sure your “personal item” fits in that metal corset of a sizer, or you’ll end up trying to load all your breakables into the pockets of your already-falling jeans.

Morning of your flight 

Wake up in your childhood bedroom. Think about how you used to lie here and hope you’d get accepted to SFU because you needed out of this town. Gratitude for university life is crucial. It’s easy to get caught up in the barrage of deadlines and group projects, but getting a degree also opens you up to knowledge, opportunities, and connections. Think of how much women have had to fight for equal rights at SFU, and how relatively modern it is to have the privileges you do, that everyone deserves but many do not have. It should motivate you to use your education to make a difference in the world.

10:08 a.m.

Wander around and eat your parents’ leftovers from the fridge without worrying they belong to your roommate. Because your college dwelling is cramped like a hamster Habitrail, take advantage of being at your parents’ house and run up and down the stairs a few times. This will make up for the exercise you won’t get during midterms.

10:36 a.m.

Talk to your family about your classes and hype up the ones you’re still waitlisted for. If you’re going into your second year, you might have gotten an aggravatingly late enrollment date. But there’s going to be a chance to try again. I generally believe “on time is late” (except when it comes to flying) but when you’re setting up your new life at school, sometimes you have to keep your field of view to just a few feet (unrelated to the fog). You might unexpectedly encounter a new interest in a filler class.

11:42 a.m.

There’s lots of time before your flight. Enough time to stop by your favourite hometown thrift store. It will all fit in your luggage if you approach it with an open heart. Maybe you should look for copies of the books you need for class. Or enough wool sweaters to dress the entire English department.

1:00 p.m.

If it takes an hour to get to the airport, and your flight is in two hours, you should leave right now. But your friend’s house is on the way so you can afford five minutes to say bye. You’re not fantastic at responding to calls because you always study like you have something to prove. You don’t mean for your hometown to be out of sight, out of mind, but you can’t help it. You come back often enough, but why is leaving so hard?

2:12 p.m.

Arrive at the airport. No teary goodbyes because you promised to “call all the time.” If you will or won’t isn’t up to you right now. The phone works both ways, I used to bitterly tell myself when I didn’t get messages from friends back home. But that’s a reductive way to think. Reach out whenever it strikes you; chances are, when you miss someone, it’s mutual.

2:15 p.m.

The line at security is really long. You get stopped for a bag inspection because everything’s jammed in your luggage like you packed in a rush and the TSA can’t figure out why you have so many phone chargers. Don’t they know a responsible student is always fully charged?

2:36 p.m.
Your gate is gatekeeping itself. Frantically consult airport signage. 

2:38 p.m.
Break into a trot. Your gate’s in the other direction and your zone is boarding right now.

2:59 p.m.

Make it, barely. Pass the time on the plane by trying to remember your Canvas login, or imagining possible MFA codes. You’re sitting in the aisle in the middle of the plane, on the way back to what feels like the first important part of your life because you’re choosing every part of it. You’re even choosing to teeter on late because you want every day to be as full as it can be. University is part of that. Continue these sentimental thoughts through turbulence; it’s the best distraction. 

4:09 p.m.

YVR is in sight. Did you remember to load your Compass card?

Turning the key

This is the last time I have to make the journey over the mountains. It might be the beginning for you, or you might be looking at your university experience nostalgically too. When I started SFU in 2022, my hair was orange and I wore a lot of strange ruffled clothing to match. Now my clothes are a lot less like costumes and I’ve long since dyed back to my normal colour. Maybe there’s a metaphor there about how university helped me find my roots. 

Settling in

You’re telling me the subletter left me a phone charger too??!!