The summer is over and students have rolled back into Boone for what could turn out to be a promising year in the high country. All of us students have our views on how the year will turn out, some visions are good and some bad. But one thing is true, we have all made the trek up the mountain for the same thing…experiences.
    The seniors are walking into their final year and looking toward what the future holds while still trying to hold onto what they have come to love over the last three, maybe four years. Commencement will be in December, or for some in May, and there is nothing but the real world to look forward to after that. This final year is the last time you will see some of your friends and the last time you get to enjoy places like Klondike, Macado’s or Murphy’s.
    In the last four years Boone has seen the addition of the George M. Holmes Convocation Center, a parking deck, the new science building, the Living Learning Center, 421 to four lanes and the start of many other projects. With everything comes a price and to add these building to our campus, room had to be made.
    Busters was moved and now sits behind McDonalds to allow for the 421 expansion; Charlie Horse is now what many of us like to call Dos Amigos; Rafters is currently under construction to become lord knows what; and Cottonwood is no more. For many seniors campus has been one huge construction site from the day they first moved in many years ago.
    Juniors are ready to begin a third year and enjoy the fact that they are not “underclassmen” any longer. Some have finally realized that Boone in the summer is a lot better than living at home with mom and pops; and some are excited about finally getting into and off-campus apartment.
    This is the year that most juniors will turn 21 and given the responsibility of drinking alcoholic beverages, legally. Friends are not going to necessarily be made but friendships will grow, and the realization of ‘how the world runs’ will begin to etch into the minds of mature young adults.
    Sophomores anticipate their arrival to begin a second year and see friends that have been missed for the three months of summer. Not being a freshman is a huge relief for most, because now some the ropes have been learned and a feeling of comfort has been established. By now most should know that the best bathrooms on campus are the ones in the Student Union, you don’t have to go through town to get around and a friend with a car is the best friend you have.
    Chic-Fil-A is a welcome site, at least for the first month or so, to the majority of students that couldn’t stand the site of their local one back in their home town; Trivette’s lasagna tasted very familiar back home when your mom served up the Stouffers for dinner one night; and the non-humid air is more welcome than ever, especially after the dreadful summer the southeastern region of the U.S. has endured. For most Boone is finally becoming more of a home away from home, instead of just school.
    Freshmen are opening their eyes in rooms the size of bathrooms with the excitement of being away from home, the first time for most. Appalachian will turn out to be the best decision most freshmen have ever made and for some the worst, as they will transfer to other schools as soon as they can.
    A lot of freshmen will pack it up almost every weekend to head back down the mountain and go to a place they call home, missing out on what makes Appalachian such a great school, the weekends. Parties, football games and Boone Drug make the weekends memorable and improve the relationships you have with new friends. Some students will miss out on their first year in Boone because of they aren’t ready to be here, while the rest will realize this is the time of their lives.
    Boone through the years will turn out to be a saving grace for a lot of Appalachian students. Once you learn that Wal-Mart is the place to go for toiletries, furniture and your weekly mullet sighting, you have officially found your way in Boone. I welcome you all back to Boone and to some for the first time and hope that you all enjoy what this time in your life is and grow into your own self.