[CHERUBS AUDIO INTRO]
It took Olivia Gu days to pack everything she needed to live away from home for a month. But once she got to her dorm room, it only took a few minutes for her to realize that she was missing stuff. A lot of stuff.
OLIVIA GU: When my dad got the credit card charge, he was like, ‘What are you buying at Target that’s like— It came in two waves, too. It was one $100 purchase, then another one, and I had to list out every single thing I got while he added it up. And then he was like, ‘uh huh, makes sense.’
That afternoon, Olivia and her friends returned to the dorm with $200 worth of paper towels, cleaning supplies, water jugs and… salad dressing?
OLIVIA: For the dining hall, the dressing’s kind of watered down, so we have our own now.
Olivia wasn’t the only one who found herself making emergency Target runs. Once they got to Jones Hall, cherubs found themselves scrambling to buy the essentials—and non-essentials—that they needed for a month of summer in Evanston.
Cherub Colin Ho has become a fan of spending afternoons at Clark Street Beach, which is weird, seeing as…
COLIN HO: At home in LA, I hate the beach. But here, I love the beach.
The only barrier between him and sunbathing the day away?
COLIN: I didn’t bring flip-flops, beach bag, beach towel, nothing. Oh, and swim trunks. I didn’t bring those either. So I had to go to Target and do a big splurge and buy all of those things.
When they weren’t able to get to the beach, some cherubs needed to find other ways to beat the heat. To report on Evanston’s July Fourth parade, Jocelyn Chen came fully prepared with a portable fan to brave the scorching conditions. Her friends did not think as far ahead.
JOCELYN CHEN: It actually makes you everyone’s favorite person, because everyone was asking me to try my portable fan, and I’d offer it to people, so they felt really grateful, I guess.
For Emily Paschall, cherubs marked the longest time she’d ever been away from home. At the very beginning of the program, she found herself missing her family and friends in Los Angeles.
EMILY PASCHALL: I was in a single dorm room, and on the first few nights, it got a little lonely under the white fluorescent lights in my room.
That’s why her tip is to bring items for your dorm room that make you feel like you’re home—whether you live fifteen minutes or fifteen hours away.
EMILY: I think having small things like a lamp, or little pictures up on my walls or notes from my family members really helped me with homesickness.
But there was at least one cherub who didn’t forget anything at home. Kai Shah came fully prepared with everything he needed to take on the program. Here’s his secret.
KAI SHAH: My mom did a lot of packing. I was already a bit nervous about the program, so I think that took a little bit of stress and time off my shoulders. Obviously, moms are great. Moms are super special, you know, they love you more than anyone.
[MUSIC]
From Cherubs Audio, this is Leah Hwang. We’ll see you next time.
Music in this episode is by Podington Bear.
