Recently, a lot of my friends have been tossing around the “one-half” idea. We’re sophomores (read: we’re old). Two years into college and we feel old.

No, maybe it’s not age. Maybe we just feel like we know this place. For almost two years, we have grown and Yale has grown. Exciting things are happening on campus: a new batch of Yale College Council Officers will be elected in the next few days, Yale will open a brand new college in Singapore in 2013, and two new residential colleges will open their doors to students in 2015. Yale is in motion.

Friends, I have a confession. For those readers who have kept up with my blog over the past year and a half, you may have noticed a trend. Somehow, one way or another, I always end up talking about at least one of Yale’s libraries.

Over the past year and a half, there have been a number of elements of the college experience that I’ve particularly appreciated. Whether it’s meeting peers from around the world, discovering unexpected interests, or rekindling overlooked passions, the university setting often provides an ideal medium. Within a liberal arts college, students have the opportunity to explore new possibilities, challenge themselves academically, and thrive as members of a community.

The story began on a picturesque spring day. Liang Shanbo met Zhu Yingtai, a female dressed in a boy’s disguise, at a wayside arbor.  In that moment, they avowed to become sworn brothers. As students, three happy years of close affinity passed quickly and the two had to return to their homes. Zhu’s anxieties were clear: she had been arranged to marry someone else. Zhu’s protest against an undesired marriage presents the climax of the conflict. Liang confesses his longing for Zhu, but upon discovering that Zhu will be married, he died of heartbreak.