Kocer is a first-year magazines major and can be contacted at stephanie.kocer@drake.edu
Do you remember being 11 years old?
Well I do, and I remember my 11th birthday vividly. I remember waking up and going to school and waiting for school to be over as soon as humanly possible so that I could check the mailbox for my Hogwarts letter.
Yes, I know that Harry Potter is just a story, and I think that at 11 I knew that too. Yet there was that little glimmer of hope that maybe an owl would be coming my way that made me check the mail repeatedly that night.
When the letter didn’t come shooting out of my fireplace by dinnertime I knew that my dream was pretty much over, so I went to my room and cried. I didn’t want my mom to see because I knew that she would think I was crazy.
Now I know that Harry Potter is just a book series, but if you grew up at the same time I did you know that it was a part of our everyday childhood and no shimmering vampires can ever compete with it.
As I dragged my overly tired college-self back to my dorm after class last Monday afternoon, you could about imagine the surprise I felt when I opened my mail slot to find a piece of paper from the Herriott School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. OK, it isn’t exactly the same thing, but I found myself flashing back to my 11th birthday.
The lovely resident assistants of Herriott Hall have coordinated events that are just like those found in the pages of the Harry Potter books. The hall is having a contest right now to see who can collect the most spare change to be the first to pick which house our floor will be.
All of the money raised is being donated to the 3-Mile Project. There will also be a potion making session, divination, “Avada Kedavra” Assassins, wizard chess and defense against the dark arts. At the end of all this madness, there will also be a House Cup Banquet and a Yule Ball.
I don’t know exactly what will occur at each of these events, but I do know that I am very excited for them, and I’m sure all of the other Herriott residents are as well. I admit that it might seem a little dorky that I am excited for all of these adventures, but let’s be honest; you wish you lived in Herriott Hall.
In a way, the Herriott staff is letting me live out a childhood dream that until now I thought was only in my imagination. Thank you, Herriott staff, for letting me be 11 again and giving me a break from my crazy, stressful college days. Sometimes it feels good to embrace your inner Muggle.
