If there’s any time when the little panel of emotions is going crazy in your head, it’s freshman year of college. With new people, classes and basically a new life, our brains are busy trying to process it all. In light of the recent showing of “Inside Out” at the CFAC, it seems appropriate to give those characters a voice, displaying the true inner workings of a freshman approaching life here at Calvin College.

Walking onto campus, my emotions were hard at work. Each memory orb stored was a mixture of fear, joy and sadness. Fear was busy running frantically around the control center, dreaming of every possible scenario that could happen.

“What if she can’t find her classes okay? What if she doesn’t make friends? What if her roommate isn’t what she expected her to be? What if…” a shudder went down Fear’s spine, “she has to sit alone in the dining hall?”

Outwardly I gulped. Fear was right. “This is a terrible and scary place,” I thought to myself. Next, Sadness took the control center.

“There’s no point in worrying,” she sighed to Fear as if it was obvious. “There’s no point to anything,” she wailed. “Mom and Dad are leaving and they’re never coming back. Everyone is going to have friends already, and she is going to be all alone 14 hours from home. She just needs to sleep until December when it’s time for Christmas, and she can go home.”

Then, came the final goodbye. Inside, I felt sentimental. Outwardly, Disgust had taken the reigns and I hid my sadness through a dismissive and curt goodbye. “Why are they being so clingy? Why won’t they just leave already so I can start college?” This goodbye, though short and anticlimactic, signified the true beginning of my college journey.

Just then, Anger kicked in. “Look at them go,” he vented. “They’re just walking away, not even looking back. They don’t care about us. They’re probably celebrating the fact that we’re leaving.”

However, after the parents were gone and QUEST began, Joy finally took control. “She’s gonna be okay. Everything is going to be great! All we need is a smile and a friendly attitude. College is going to be the best years of her life!”

So with a little bit of fear, disgust, anger, sadness and a lot of joy I embarked on my freshman year at Calvin College. As the weeks progressed, those scary faces began to be recognizable faces… and even friends. The layout of the campus became more and more familiar. The original fears had gone away and Joy was back in her rightful spot, creating beautiful memories during this exciting new chapter of my life.