Finally Home

So I’m finally home from Orientation. It was definitely an adventure of some sorts.

The ride up was uneventful, just 12 hours of trees and highway and twisty, turny mountains. So on to day one…

I have to respect my parents for putting up with me at the start of the day. I woke up irritated because I had gotten all of 3 hours of sleep (because my mom snores!!). Then, I was further aggravated that after walking all the way to our check in at Morrill Tower, we had to walk immediately back to our hotel to get all my stuff so I could move into my dorm for the night. But I survived the ordeal and we went on to the opening session.

I was mortified to learn I would have to sit separate from my parents, and worse off, I was stuck between two guys I didn’t know (not that I knew anybody there period). Actually, one of the guys proved the be pretty social and after the opening session, I met another guy who I walked with. I quite enjoyed their company (though I doubt I’ll ever see them again since they are completely different majors and scholars programs than me).

I can’t say I was enthused about lunch. I ate it with my scholars group, and much to my dismay – there appeared to be nobody with which I could relate. I’m not good at forced socialization, or socializing at all. It takes me about a week before I can even develop some sort of substantial acquaintance. We played awkward games and then went on tours. Much to my luck, I found out my dorm for the fall has no air conditioning. Apparently it’s not really needed up there in Ohio, but being from Georgia, the idea of no air conditioning seems like a crime to me.

I took my foreign language test, did surprisingly well actually. Managed to acquire 10 free credit hours because I scored pretty high. I got my Buck ID and hallelujah!! It’s actually a good picture – even after running across campus to make it to the office before it closed.

Let me tell you. I was hurting by the end of day one. I haven’t done that much walking, or that much physical activity, in a long time. Plus, I chose fashion over comfort, so my feet arches were seriously hurting. I passed out as soon as a got horizontal on my bed. Unfortunately, that means I forgot to set my alarm….

I told my room-mate that I was setting an alarm for 5:30. I guess she didn’t think it was her job to wake me up when 5:30 came and went. My parents were supposed to be at my dorm at 8:00 to help me pack up my stuff and bring it back to the hotel. Breakfast ended at 8:15. I was planning on eating breakfast at 7:00. Guess when I woke up?? 6:50. That day I found out I do not in fact need an unholy 2 hours to get ready. I did what normally takes me 2 hours in about 45 minutes. Yeah!!

But anyways, the main point to day two was to schedule my classes for fall. I am SO excited about my fall schedule. Everything worked out just as I wanted. It was nowhere near as stressful or scary as I thought it would be. So here’s my schedule: I have my mandatory Arts & Sciences Survey class on Tuesdays from 8:30 to 9:18 pm. I have Turkish! (half the reason I chose Ohio State) Monday though Friday from 9:30 to 10:18 pm. (Apparently, you are supposed to be able to walk anywhere on campus in under 12 minutes). I have Freshman English (which is subject to change based on my AP scores) on Monday & Wednesday from 12:30 to 1:18 pm. I’m taking Microeconomics (which is a prerequisite for a lot of my major classes). I have two days of lectures (the class can have up to 600 people in it!! Though as of right now there are only 200 something) on Monday and Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:18 pm. Then I have a recitation (which is like a smaller discussion group) on Fridays from 2:30 to 3:18 pm. And guess what?!?! I have a modern dance class!! On Tuesdays & Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:00 pm.

I am so very happy with my schedule because I got my Turkish and my dance in there. My Turkish class promises to be small. As of my signing up, there were only 7 other people signed up!! But anyways, I hope that long list of my schedule didn’t bore you too much.

But those are basically the main important things that happened at orientation. I got my first blister ever from walking so much (I know that’s hard to believe since I did pointe work) and I managed to get sunburned (hooray pale skin!!).

Also, I must admit that after day one, I was feeling a little discouraged about the people I had met. They were all great people, I just didn’t really meet anyone (other than those 2 guys on day one) that I really felt I could be friends with. I’m sure that will change once fall comes around. I’ll still give everyone a chance. But I think part of the reason I was feeling so discouraged it because I haven’t been around that many girls in years!! These past couple of years, most of my friends have been guys. It’s like I’ve completely forgotten how to interact with girls. They’re an entirely different species.

But after day two was over, I was again feeling confident in my choice of school and major. Especially after having a conversation with one of my friends who goes to UGA, I knew I had chosen to best school for me. Now I’m counting down the days until I can go back to Ohio State again, next time for good. I know I’ll miss Georgia in some ways, but I just can’t wait to start living as a real Ohio State student.

I know these upcoming years will be some of the best in my life.