Summer Camp for College Students

Yesterday, the orientation group I am in for this extravaganza came up with the idea that orientation is essentially summer camp, in that every second of our day, and almost all of it is compulsory. Granted it is very fun, but we are herded from one place to the other without stopping. However, it is extremely fun! There have been quite a few interesting experiences, including an entertaining game of Ninja and a debate about whether one thing can stop a revolution.

Oh. The whole premise behind orientation, and part of the reason that we all started calling it summer camp, was that we were all separated into districts, Hunger Games style. Yours truly was a part of District One! Whoo! I had quite a few friends in the group with me, and also a pretty cool O-leader. I actually think I want to be one either next year or the year after.

Just kindly ignore the fact that I look a bit odd with a bandana. It took me about an hour the next day to finally get it figured out. Too much curly hair does not a bandana wearer make. I felt kind of like one of those strange people on tv with the bandanas on because of the hair. I turned it into a headband for the rest of the night. 

The next day was meant for basically whatever we wanted to as it was advising day. I wore my human ingredient shirt, because I'm a nerd like that. Here's the view I get as I walk to my dorm in the morning from the tech center. 

And here is my new home, aka the science building. Graduating in three years with a degree in biochemistry means I get to legit live here for the next three years. 

What with all our free time, we decided it might not be a bad idea to wander around looking for our classes. Here's a look at all the wandering we did. 

Oh yeah. Fun stuff. After an afternoon of just chilling in the lounge, we went to glo-ball. Oh yeah, dodge ball under black lights. It was great. I'm not very good at dodge ball, but I had fun so ya know there's that. 

On the final day of orientation, we all got into our districts and went off the activities we picked to compete against a each other. I picked trivia, and I did awesome. My group loved me, as I have a great memory when it comes to book trivia believe it or not. Oh right I did get my hair to not look weird with a bandana on!! 

Oh yeah. Side braids are awesome. Sometimes. Most of the time. Anytime it's really hot. After we got done, a couple of us went for a walk around the lake to check out our new hometown and met some adorable mallards! 

Ducks are pretty cool when they're being nice. Then, we decided it was time to attempt laundry. Yeah, no. Until we get new dryers laundry is going to be a long day. No fun. To compensate, we all decided to get super cute for Blastoff, aka the activities fair. I found so many clubs I'm interested in, and just need to pick less than the ones I talked to. Also, I got my stereotypical picture with Mocsie because, ya know, it's not college without a picture with your mascot. 

My hair was somewhat misbehaving, but ya know whatcha gonna do, this is Lakeland, it is hot, and that room was also hot. 

In conclusion, college is going to be awesome, classes start today, and I can't wait to get involved. Isn't that what living in a dorm is all about? 

Home is Behind You

...and by you I mean me. Almost twenty four hours later, I have moved into my dorm, ate a meal in the dining hall, gone to a (very fun, orientation ice-breaker type, university approved) party, slept in a bed raised way off the ground and didn't fall out, and used a pretzel stick to stir my coffee. I know, I know, that last one doesn't make a lot of sense, but hear me out: there was so much running around yesterday, I'm not at all surprised I forgot that I needed coffee stirrers. I am so happy with my new home, I don't know what to do.

My journey to my new home started Friday morning, bright and early, packing the car with all my essentials, and running last minute errands. Who runs errands at eight in the morning? My family, that's who. Of course, as you may or may not know, it's not a trip anywhere if we don't forget at least one essential thing. The things we forgot lead me to my current hypothesis about the world: eight in the morning is just too early for math, even simple math like counting pins needed for a bookshelf. My mom went off to do one thing while my dad and I ran off to pick up hardware for my bookshelf. We managed to only get enough for one bookshelf. Whoops. Anyway, we met back up with mom and she laughed at us. But, like I said, eight is just too early for math; there's a reason I scheduled my calculus class for the early afternoon.  We also managed to forget my lamp too, so there's that.

Lo and behold, we finally managed to get underway, with a little twist: I drove most of the way in my car with my dad while mom was in her car. Yes, we had to take two cars, but one must remember that the two cars we took are both not exactly suited for moving. Travel, absolutely, moving, no. Because it is Florida, we ran into a pretty intense thunderstorm, and clearly I'm writing this so we're all fine. Florida showers are strange things. Anyway, we made it to Lakeland and got settled in the hotel. Bedtime was supposed to be early, what with moving in and everything, but that didn't happen. It never does, does it?

Alright, alright, alright! Let's talk about moving, shall we? It was a lot of fun! Sort of. It only took about an hour, and then we were off running errands, picking up things like coffee and a Swiffer. Of course, we forgot coffee stirrers but that's beside the point. When I got back, it was time for a hall meeting with the RA which was interesting. We went around, gave our names/hometowns/majors, listened to all the rules, and played Two Truths and a Lie, which I think is a pretty cool ic e breaker if I do say so myself. Can you guess which of my three facts is the lie? I said: I love reading Shakespeare, I hate the color pink, and music is my favorite thing ever.

After that, it was time for cleaning my room up (siwffering, organizing) and dinner. I'm not going to lie, the dining hall was huge and intimidating. But, I'm not one for being timid and I was quick to find someone I recognized from Advising Days and strike up a conversation. Hooray college! Then, the real fun started. We went to the auditorium to meet up with our orientation groups and get this whole thing underway. Just saying, being an O-leader would be something I'd love to do. I wonder how one gets involved with that. We went to small group, got to know each other (good grief at the ice breakers- for future reference my favorite tree is the weeping willow), went over the orientation schedule, then were set loose to go to the "headphone dance party" as they called it. It was quite entertaining. More people, strange games, and dancing like absolute idiots. It. Was. Awesome. I have to say, orientation is starting to seem a lot like summer camp for college students. There's no telling what today has in store.