Hiya! I know quite a few of you seemed very interested in my first college post I made couple months ago, so I decided to do a little update since I'm moving in my dorm in less than a month. (shrieks) I'd prefer to write everyone a letter about everything, but this is much easier!
I have encountered a ton of worries in preparing for college. Even though worries are usually never good, I'm happy that my worries have come in stages. Initially, I was extremely nervous about living somewhat on my own and living in a dorm. I spent a lot of time in prayer about it, and now I am really excited to decorate my little space I'm going to be in for the next year. I've already gotten all the little things I need to make my dorm home, so I'm very excited. I will post pictures once I move in! I know some of you are nosy and want to see those things, I know I am. :p
My current worry is about my classes. I know they are going to be much tougher than high school. I feel like I can handle them, but then again I'm a bit scared. I have classes Monday through Friday and many of my classes are 2-3 hours long. (I'll explain my schedule in a bit!) I can't really explain how I feel about classes, I just keep worrying about how well I'll do. I know it'll all turn out okay once I get there. Just gotta have faith!
Now onto the fun stuff!
I am thankful to be rooming with one of my good friends from high school, whose name is also Rachel. (How cool is that?) I'm excited that I can start this new journey with a friend, it makes this whole thing a lot less scary.
We're living in a co-ed dorm. I'm not sure if it's an all freshmen dorm or not, but I think mostly freshmen live there. Our rooms have two XL-Twin beds that are flat on the ground. We aren't allowed to get bed-raisers for them, which is totally okay because those bed-raiser things freak me out, hahah! I am quite thankful for a XL-Twin, since my 5'8 or so self doesn't really fit too well on a normal twin. So yay! I'm also very thankful that we have a bathroom in our room. We will have to share it with two other girls, so it's basically two rooms to one bathroom. So happy that I can shower in my room and I don't have to walk down the hallway adorned in a polka-dotted robe. Our dorms also come with two closets with wooden doors, a desk and chair, and a small dresser. The dorm floors are tile, similar to the floors at a high school, and the walls are lovely brick-o-blocks. There are no kitchens in our dorm, though. We are allowed to have a fridge and a microwave, and any other kitchen device that isn't an open heat source. So most of my meals will be eaten in the cafeteria. Another reason I'm excited is because my art teacher from high school stayed in the same dorms that I'm staying in. She has been such an inspiration to me and I love that I feel like I'm carrying on a tradition in a way. I'm overly sentimental, please excuse me! :p All in all, I really like our dorms and am excited to live there.
I signed up for classes in the beginning of June while at orientation. It was a lot of fun because I got to sign up with everyone else in my major. We all got along really well, even though most of them were theater arts majors while I am a stuido arts major. We all had the same vibe and personalities and it was extremely heartwarming to know that there are people there that I feel like I've already connected with. Anyway, I'm taking 16 hours. (heavy breathing) I signed up for three different art classes, math, English, and a mandatory freshmen class to get to know the school. I'm very excited to be taking three different art classes, even though one of my professors said he didn't recommend it. My art classes range anywhere from 2-3 hours and he said they can be a bit overwhelming. My choice was either another art class or public speaking. I wanted to get used to the college before I took public speaking, so I chose a 3 hour art class instead. (Which I didn't realize until afterwards, but I'm hoping it'll be fine!) Thankfully my math and English classes are only 50 minutes long. My classes start everyday at 8am and on most days I'll be done with classes by 3pm or so. I made sure I had time in between classes to eat and recoup, so I think it'll all be okay. I am still very nervous for my classes, but I know it's just me over-thinking. It'll all be smooth as butter soon! Just gotta get used to it.
Another exciting thing: I have a job on campus. YES. A job. I received a work-study scholarship, meaning that I have to work in the art department for an hour a week and I get paid in scholarship money. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, I get my assignment on the first week of school, but I am very excited to get involved in my school and department. And only an hour a week, not too shabby!
This next little thing may sound stupid, but it's something that I've been thinking about since I graduated in May.
I am so happy there is no more dress code. As cliche as it sounds, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me. Ever since my junior year when the infamous "your knees will distract the male students" incident, I felt like I couldn't wear what I liked because it would be "distracting" or something. (Mind you, my outfit that dreadful day was all black, and I had tights on, that were black. Let's just insert a picture here of that day. I was kind of crying because 1. that was the first time I was sent to the office in my 12 years of school, and 2. I felt really cute that day and I to call my mom to bring me pants, and 3. I missed like an 30 minutes of Spanish class because my knees are promiscuous apparently.)
Even though I'm kind of worried about college, there is also loads of excitement piled in as well. I'm so pumped to start this new adventure and find myself even further in this journey. Hopefully this little girl from a small town can finally find her place in this world, and hopefully a lotta art is involved. :) And I'm sure I'll be consuming a lot of mac-n-cheese, popcorn, and hot chocolate.
And I forgot to mention: I move in Thursday, August 21st, and my first day of class is Monday, August 25th. I will most likely be home every weekend, since my school isn't that far away from home.
I'll always be a Bobcat, but I'm ecstatic to become a Gov. <3
-Rachel xx
