Week 1

8.29.14

A few minutes ago I finished my last class. I have completed my first week of college as a freshman. Let’s start from move in day and I’ll catch you up to this moment in my dorm where somebody down the hall is blasting music (lana del rey).

Last Saturday I woke up and it was the day I had been waiting for with equal amounts of excitement and terror. I wasn't worried about my school. I've been in love with my small d3 college since the spring of my junior year in high school. However, I didn't have much experience being on my own or in a new environment where I would have to establish an entirely new friend group.

Move in went well. I unpacked my stuff after rearranging the furniture with my roommate. Side note on roommate: as of six days we've coexisted well even though neither of us had shared a room before. After I unpacked all my stuff my father not so subtly pointed out that I don’t need forty t-shirts. With the exception of all the shirts I think I packed well. I covered essentials and I forgot little (jamers to swim in and q-tips). After move in and some events for students and parents, it was time to say goodbye to my parents and my brother. I didn't know what to expect, but it was less awkward/painful than I feared so that’s good. I hugged and told them I would see them soon. I figure everyone’s college goodbyes are different but mine went well and so I’m happy about that.

After move in began the marathon of welcome activities. It was one meeting after another of the freshman class (all six-hundred of us) and dorm meetings with our RA’s. One cool thing we did during this parade of welcome activities was to help build a habitat for humanity house. I think that helping build a house is a great idea all the way around, it helps a family in need, shows incoming freshman volunteering opportunities and helps the new students get to know each other.

After we were sufficiently welcomed, we began class on the Wednesday after the Saturday move in. I’m in four classes. Spanish, Political Science, An intro to Health and Human Performance, and a general education class (like English). On Wednesday, I started the day with Spanish. I was a bit nervous because I was placed into a higher Spanish level and I hadn't taken a Spanish class since my junior year of high school. I was relieved when I arrived to my class of nine students to find out that I should be ok there. Once Spanish was done I had lunch and went to my intro to health and human performance (hhp for short) where the professor was barely thirty. He put his feet on the desk and let us our early after syllabus talk. The next day I had my freshman seminar/English/etc class which went well. We analyzed a scene from the movie avatar and I spoke in front of the class. After lunch on Thursday I headed to the top floor of an old court building that was annexed by the college for my political science class. The professor walked in and had us write down our name, grade, area of academic interest and then our favorite political figure. I don’t have a favorite political figure at the ready so I scribbled Thomas Jefferson and hoped for the best. The professor was incredibly articulate. It was intimidating and exciting. I feel like I will be smarter at the end of the semester from hearing his language if nothing else.

There’s a little bit about what’s going on with me. I plan to keep putting stuff here and maybe I can look back on it one day? Or maybe I’ll make a fool of myself, proceed to write about it, and then you can read about it and avoid the same mistake? I don’t know exactly what I want to get out of this blog, I guess we’ll figure that out later. Until then, here’s to the first post and the next four years

-w