What August reminds me of...(just trivialities)

I am going to become a second-grade student and our new term begins on September 14th. However, the newcomers should go to university in August.

I still remember that on August 19th, 2022, it was my first time to enter my university. It was also my first time to go to Hangzhou and I lose my way in the railway station there. Dragging my heavy luggage, I was wandering in the large hall of the station, looking for where the upperclassmen of our unversity were, who were responsible for receiving the newcomers and leading them to our schoolbus. My worry accumulated with the going of time, and my sweat wet my back. Finally and fortunately, I came across a girl majoring in social sciences, who was going to start the third year in our university. Although her face was somewhat red with heat, she offered to help me drag my luggage and led me through over half of the huge hall to a corner where new first year students were welcomed. She told me her name and so did I, but I never met her anymore later.

I think about the first day I went to my dormitory. Because of the injury on my knee, the fabric attached to it was stained with some pus, and it really hurt. Luckily, another upperclassman helped me take me luggage to my dormitory building. There was a middle-aged lady who was responsible for cleaning stairs and corridors in our dormitory. When new residents came, she also helped to carry their luggage to their rooms, 20 yuan per item. However, though she took both my case and bag to the sixth floor where I would live, she only asked me to pay 20 yuan.

Almost everywhere of the room was covered by a thin layer of dirt. I had looked at pictures of such dormitory rooms on a website of our university. It was quite a nice room, and now I still think so. It was in that afternoon that I met my first roommate. I threw away the stained fabric and applied some medicine to my injury, and I found it hurt obviously less than the previous days.

I had tomatoes with eggs, fried lotus roots with meat and a cup of sour plum drink for dinner,which was very delicious. I had dinner at a table in the hall of the dormitory. It was hot there, but I had to avoid going upstairs or downstairs. It took me a lot of time to organize me things. I was surprised that cleaning my desk and bed board needed two packs of wet wipes. Tiring as the work was, it was so great to see the empty room turn into a sweet home. And my roommate also thought so.

The next morning was sunny with light blue sky and thin clouds, indicating it would be hot later. However, at least it wasn't rainy. I had a scallion pancake and a flower cake for my first breakfast in my university. It was my first time to eat a flower cake. It was a flat cake with crispy orange and yellow crust and sweet rose sauce filling, whose texture and taste made me fall in love with it.

Shortly afterwards, there was a class meeting. An upperclassman led us to a classroom building. It was a long way and I spent a lot of effort keeping up with others. Although advised to ride a bike, I refused for I had difficulty bending my legs. Bathed in the summer sunlight, grass and leaves were thriving. What caught my attention was the special artistic wooden structures on the verdant meadow. After the class meeting in the morning, at which we introduced ourselves one by one but I couldn't remember all my classmates' names, we met again and played some games in the afternoon. There was one game left me the deepest impression. We were divided into four groups, and everyone should write three things: a happy one, an unhappy one and a fortunate one. Then every group had a student to collect what the other members wrote and coalesce these contents into a story. The boy sitting next to me was the one for this task. He made up a story of a fan of a celebrity, in which the protagonist went through various good and bad things and finally was admitted to our university.

I can't totally recall how my state exactly was at that time, but at least I can say everything of me was full of hope. Every student in our university knows that the former principal asked what we were going to do at university and what we wanted to do after graduation. I was determined to use my actions to answer the questions, and I really wanted to study hard to become an excellent person useful to humans.

Despite the inconvenience at that time, I miss the last August and the shiny brand new beginning, so passionate and promising. I don't like summer, but the last one is an exception. The unforgettable good things eventually became a part of the past and can only stay in my memory. I sigh with nostalgia and see the fresh warm soul of a newcomer gradually being covered by the chilly dirt left by time.