Whoa! Well, hello there! I haven’t been posting much lately.
Actually, I haven’t posted anything in about a year. Sorry about that, for
whomever is reading out there. I’ve been so busy with work, school, and trying
to keep up a healthy social life that I barely had time to process it all
myself. Honestly, if it weren’t for my mom calling me everyday I would have
probably forgotten to keep them updated as well. Oh, and don’t even get me
started on my friends back home. I completely put them on hold this past year.
Sorry guys! I love y’all. They know and understand this (at least I hope so),
that’s why when we are all back home we get together and everything is as if we
were never apart.
Where can I possibly start? So much has happened in the last
year! Get ready, because I’m about to give a fast-paced recap of my first year
of college. This will most likely be long, might be interesting (if you like
reading about people’s lives), could get a bit confusing, but mainly it will be
a post filled with my emotions, ideas, and opinions.
Let’s start off with where I started, at an airport with a
suitcase (more like 7, let’s be real) filled with clothes, hand sanitizer
(thanks mom), school supplies (which I didn’t need – all you need is pens and
spirals which you can buy at school people!), and all of my rookie hopes and
dreams. It all became very real, very fast as the airplane landed in Boston’s,
Logan Airport. It was a bit of a daze after that. That night as my family and I
slept in our hotel all I could think about was how they would all leave in the
morning and I would be left in an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar people. I
had wanted to move away from home for so long, but now that it was actually
happening I was a bit apprehensive. I pride myself in being a very independent
woman but when I waved my parents off at the bus stop all I could feel was my
independence crumbling from the empty hole that I felt as I watched my family
drive away. I was only able to swim in the ocean of this feeling for a few
minutes because as soon as they left I had to go straight home and start
packing for my first-year trips (a hundred year old tradition that my college
has of throwing a bunch of inexperienced freshmen into the wilderness – aka FUN
WITH SWEAT AND B.O.). This pretty much marked the way for how the rest of this
year went by – go, go, go!
My first experience with my class was a mix of things I
expected and surprises, both positive and negative. There are definitely many
pros and cons that come along with attending a prestigious institution. Pros:
connections, opportunities, funding. Cons: Privilege, privilege, privilege
(it’s everywhere). Long story short, this trip opened my eyes and mind to
issues that I hadn’t encountered back home. Issues that would continue to come up throughout my entire first year at college (and that will probably continue for the rest of my life).
After trips I had lost a bit of that freshman zeal that I
came in with. I was starting to feel homesick and was beginning to question
whether I had made the right choice in the college I chose. Deep down I knew I
was where I was supposed to be, but that didn’t stop me from imagining how
different everything would have turned out if I had chosen to go to school in
Texas. Sooner than later I found that family that I was missing so much – they came
in the form of mentors and other first generation college students. I met so
many amazing people through that program – friends and mentors who I will keep
for a lifetime. With their help I was able to navigate college with much more confidence.
I don’t want to drone on and on about my first year, but I
will say that I learned more about myself, my faith, my ideas, and the way I
view the world than I would have had I stayed in the monotony that was my life
back in Texas.
A few takeaways from this past year:
· Don’t take anything at face value
· Have and defend your opinions, critiques, and ideas
· Be open to new experiences
· Be an activist
· Be a feminist
· Be a lover – of everything
· I want to work/live in New York City for at least a year
· I want to learn a fourth language
· Your major DOES NOT define your future/career
· And most importantly, “growth begins at the end of your comfort zone”
Here are a few pictures to illustrate a bit of the craziness that was my first year at away from home.
The best trip leaders ever
Trippies
My fam away from home
Orientation bliss
Unofficial mascot - Keggy the Keg
Beaut
Running around huge fire with your best friend, check.
Sweaty, sticky, love.
Jumping into below freezing water, check.
Lovers Ln., check.
New York with your bestie, check.
And now, on to my new adventure. I have started a new blog "Un Sacco di Stupidaggini" - "A Bunch of Nonsense" where I will be blogging from abroad. Go follow that blog and get ready for my Italy blogposts in the fall!
