Joachim Dalloran ‘30
At the better Holy Cross
WORCESTER, MA—Returning to campus after a (hopefully) refreshing fall break, the burning hot summers are transitioning into the cool, breezy, and crisp weather of late October–the climax of the fall foliage display. As well as the 3,103 students that make up the student body on Mount Saint James, the College additionally welcomed one new individual into the community.
Indy Ana is a first-year student at Holy Cross College in South Bend, Indiana. Checking her entire travel itinerary, she realized her travels brought her to the wonderful city of Worcester, the heartland of Massachusetts.
Travelling back to school, eighteen-year-old Indy Ana was running after the clock. “From traffic to security to long lines, Newark gave me one hell of a stress,” she noted. Unlike most schools, Holy Cross is one of the only institutions that grants the full week after Columbus Day off. “My flight to South Bend was departing in five minutes, so I sprinted across the terminal hoping that I wouldn’t miss it. The gate and the agent were there, so I scanned in and made my way onboard.”
She didn’t notice a single thing out of place and took off that night as scheduled. Netflix movies and shows were downloaded, and the flight attendants were beginning to serve. “I immediately passed out after the first thirty minutes. When I woke up, we had already landed at the airport. There, I felt something was off.” Fear that she may have been hallucinating due to sleep deprivation this past week, she calmly proceeded to exit the terminal and found the Holy Cross shuttle driving off.
What came next was the ultimate turning point. This area was more urban than South Bend, filled with buildings, advanced infrastructure, and abandoned factories. Climbing a steep incline on College Street, Indy Ana finally realized that she had made a grave mistake. The entrance sign read: College of the Holy Cross, founded in 1843. With no more money left in her bank account, a redirect flight to Chicago was impossible.
Since arriving on campus, Ana has focused on assimilating to the better Holy Cross. From the outdated 1960s-style freshmen dorms to pulling her calf climbing from Kimball to the Hart Center (then busting her knees walking back down), the transition phase is still in process.
She concludes, “Maybe Worcester isn’t too bad after all.”
Copy edited by Claire Flynn ’29
Featured image courtesy of Joachim Dalloran
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