Wonderland, and other MBTA Misadventures
It’s impossible to avoid the T if you’re on campus. Cutting right down the middle of Comm Ave, the green line is a staple, super convenient for when you need to go somewhere a little too far to walk. Freshman year I got my first semester pass and I used it nonstop, trying to adventure to other parts of Boston as much as I could, from the North End to Seaport.
Obviously things are a little different now, and you probably don’t want to spend too much time in a crowded train car full of other people. Even so, there have been two times this school year that made me remember why I loved the T so much my first year.
The first time was at the end of last semester. My friend and I have a tradition to ride the blue line all the way to the last stop at the end of every semester, starting in 2019 when we just wanted to see what was at the stop called Wonderland. As it turns out, a beach. I was shocked to see it there, mere feet away from where the T stop let out. It felt a world away from the urban sprawl of Boston I was used to. When we went back a year later, it was just as mesmerizing. Even though the trip was on the longer side, it was more than worth it in the end.
Early this semester, I had to come up with an idea for a screenplay for class. After pondering it for a week, I was still stuck. Hoping that a change of scenery would give me some much needed inspiration, I hopped on the T, going all the way from Allston up to Harvard Square. On the ride there, I tuned everything out except for my own thoughts, and eventually began to form an idea for my script. I finalized my plans on the way back, and it was on that trip that I realized how beneficial it was to have a place where you could turn your brain off and just think. Even if it’s on noisy public transport.
One of my favorite parts about the BU Campus is how easy it is to get from there to the rest of the city, and the T is instrumental in that. I can’t recommend just getting on and seeing where you’ll end up enough. Who knows, maybe you’ll find something you never expected. Or maybe it’s about the journey, and the great ideas you had along the way. Regardless, the opportunity is there, just outside your dorm.