College Orientation

This week I had college orientation and I can’t even begin to describe to you how anxious I was prior to it. I had to leave my house at 5 in the morning, drive about 2 and a half hours to get there, stay all day, and then stay the night in a residence hall. Parents were allowed, so my mom accompanied me, thank God. I couldn’t sleep the night before, and I had to wake up before the sun, so I was exhausted. And of course with my luck, I couldn’t sleep in the car either. When I finally arrived, my heart was beating so loud I swear I almost had a heart attack. When I checked in, I was immediately told to take my ID picture (which I was NOT prepared for!!!) Luckily, everyone’s college ID seemed to look kinda bleh. Not the person themselves, just the way they were made. They have a sort of yellow tint to them which can make everyone look a little unflattering, I think we can all agree on that. 

Next on my list was to take a Spanish placement test. I had previously taken 4 years of Spanish, but never had a good teacher. I also decided not to take Spanish 5 (because of the bad teacher situation). Turns out, I placed up a level on the test which made me realize I didn’t forget as much Spanish as I previously thought. 
Everyone had to attend these lectures which basically just told us important and useful information about the college. Sometimes, we were with parents, sometimes the parents had a different lecture in another location. They were kinda boring, but honestly pretty useful. I learned a lot. 

We then went to a classroom with our orientation groups. Mine was a group of 9 girls and we were all majoring in communication sciences and disorders, planning to get our masters in speech-language pathology. Everyone was so nice! Even though I didn’t become instant-best friends with anyone, I was still very thankful for such an accepting group. They made me realize that there will be a lot of people to meet in college and I just need to keep myself open and talk to people. 

Later that night, they gave us icecream and had outdoor games for us to play and socialize. I ended up seeing one of my friends from high school which was a pleasant surprise! She asked me if I wanted to come to Buffalo Wild Wings with her and a few friends she ended up making and I decided, why not? I only get college orientation once. I might as well walk around and find some cool things around the town. We got food and ended up getting along really well. Once again everyone was so nice!! I finally got back to the dorm I was in for the night at about midnight, which sort of made my mom mad, but it’s only going to happen one time, right? 

So I thought that since I got up early the previous day that I would be able to sleep in some… I was incorrect. It was bright and early at 6am and I was barely keeping my eyes open. After I started moving I thankfully started to become more awake. 

Walking around campus in the morning was so refreshing. I actually felt so comfortable and I thought for the first time that I wouldn’t mind calling that place home for the next 4 years. I honestly can’t even explain the feeling to make you understand, but it was incredible. 

That morning I signed up for classes, got a job, and bought some college merch! Everything is becoming so real!! Orientation wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be and I really can’t wait to attend Ohio University this fall 🙂