Small School, Small World

by Eddie Sonnie

I am a local student. I was born in Norfolk, lived in Suffolk for eight years, moved to Chesapeake and then Portsmouth, so I know this area pretty well. When I came to Christopher Newport, I experienced a lot of different people and ways of living to which I had been previously exposed.

I quickly learned that there is a large population of people from northern Virginia (NoVA as they call it) here, and their culture is so much different compared to that of Hampton Roads. One unfortunate thing, as a local student, is that when I go home for breaks, there really isn’t anyone I know from school to hang out with. I love all of my friends here, but I have to limit myself to texts and FaceTime over breaks.

But during Thanksgiving break, something awesome happened. I was back at my parent’s house in Chesapeake, and I went to the store to buy a new pair of shoes, and I SAW SOMEONE FROM CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT. “What do I do?” I thought. This has never happened before!

I wasn’t particularly friends with the guy that I saw. We sit next to each other in choir rehearsal, but don’t talk much because we are different voice parts. Though, when we saw each other in the store, we immediately recognized each other and started up a conversation, and now we are pretty good friends. We bonded over being from the same area.

Christopher Newport is such an awesome university, and I love getting to know all of my fellow Captains. As my time here grows longer, I’m starting to realize that there are more Captains like me than I thought.