have had a roller coaster of all these emotions throughout the past couple weeks; first, relocating to a new area and home, secondly, a new job; thirdly another new job, then quitting an old job; and just yesterday was my first day going back to a brand new school, and not to mention taking public transit...which you guessed it, I am pretty darn new to that as well!I chose BART to travel to school because it is near my new place and it would be a convenient and less expensive way of transportation--not to mention avoiding the crazy parking situations in Bezerkeley.
To lessen the panic of possibly jumping on a train in the wrong direction I decided to do some homework ahead of time and got myself a BART schedule and map. The map makes it simple enough for a two year old to navigate, yet I still found myself asking the people around me for reassurance regarding what platform I was supposed to transfer on to etc. I was sure that I was going to end up in the wrong place and be late, or even worse, miss my first day of lecture!
As the SFO/Millbrae train made a smooth stop at the platform I jumped on and found a seat. I scanned the car and was pleasantly surprised at how clean it was and how 'safe' the people all appeared to be...this was nothing like the rumors I had heard about BART. I sat back with my iPod in hand and relaxed as the train eased forward...only knocking one elderly, overweight man on top of the woman I had been talking to. (For those of you regular BARTees you must know it can take you by surprise when you aren't positioned in fighting stance) The humor of that situation calmed my anxiety and I was sure that I would successfully find my way to school.
The BART conductor kindly called off every station as we stopped along the way to relieve and reload passengers. Next stop was my place to transfer. So as we slowed to a stop at the MacArthur Station, the conductor explained,
'This is a transfer station, for those of you who wish to continue on to San Francisco/Millbrae please remain seated. For those passengers wishing to travel to Fremont please exit and cross to platform 3. For those passengers heading to Richmond, please exit, go downstairs, and go back up to platform 1'
'SWEET!' I thought to myself,' he made it so easy, 'why did I even worry?!' I sprinted off the train and down the stairs, across the hall and taking steps two at a time back up the other side.
Just as I reached the top stair my connecting train arrived. 'This is so my lucky
day!!' As I entered the Richmond train...WOW!...that was the only word that came to mind. This was completely different in every way then the last train. I had now entered a shmorgesborg of all ethnicity's and age groups. Though the train car was packed to full capacity and I could hardly see the map, I knew with out a doubt I was heading in the right direction. I don't know what it is(and I don't say this to offend) but I could smell my way to Berkeley. HaHa! I'm not sure why I feared finding my way so much, I should have remembered to simply follow my scent-ses, the 
hippies, the naturalists, the smarty pants, the guys with no shoes, and the aroma of once every-other-week showerers. These are the fascinating characters that make Berkeley... well Berkeley!Needless to say, my first day of school was absolutely fantastic! BART, my new school(which actually is brand spankin' new!!and I LOVE it), my professor(she is BOMB), the lecture and area of study(Microbiology...very engaging:)), and my new friends I made in class!! What a splendid first day! Thank you God:)
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