Leaving home

As much as you hear about what it is like leaving the house for the first time, you never really know what it feels like until it happens. The last day at home was really emotional. On top of saying goodbye to my best friends who have been with me since the process of schooling began, I was also forced to say goodbye to my boyfriend. It didn't phase me yet at all that only one day later I'd be saying goodbye to my parents as well. My thoughts were "College will never top highschool" and "I'll never meet friends like these." I never thought that college would end up feeling like home.

The next morning wasn't any easier. I woke up extremely early to leave New Hampshire for the three-hour drive to Rhode Island. Although it was early, I wasn't able to sleep. The anticipation to meet my roommates and move-in took over instead. I spent the entire ride text messaging my boyfriend and talking to my parents about how I was nervous and wanted to stay home. My parents advised me that it was going to be okay and that if I try my hardest to make the best of it everything would turn out okay. Then, they proceeded to give me a lecture on partying and how negative decisions will affect my schoolwork, for the ten millionth time. As we pulled in with the Yukon XL loaded to the ceiling of stuff I thought I would need, shivers ran all through me. It was then that it hit me. This is college, and this place was now my home. When I arrived it was around 8:30. Luckily for me, one of my best friends was an incoming freshman as well. I thought at least if I didn't make friends I would have him to hang out with. :) As fate would have it, he pulled in the parking lot directly behind me. We walked in together to register and then went our separate ways, him going to Maple hall and me to Cedar.

Pulling into the Cedar parking lot was such a welcoming sight. There were teams there to bring in our luggage and help with anything that we needed. I ran up to the table, grabbed my room key, mailbox key, and a cluster of papers necessary for college life. The RA for my floor walked me to my room and let me in. There stood one of my roommates. She had already been there for one night and was barely awake. From what I could tell from our brief conversation, she was a very nice girl. Seconds later, our third roommate showed up. Despite our obvious differences, we seemed to click really well. We all laughed and joked while moving in about how much stuff we brought. I mean, who needs 10 sweatshirts and 12 pairs of shoes? Luckily my dorm was located on the first floor, so bringing in everything wasn't too much of a struggle. My mom and I spent the afternoon organizing and reorganizing everything. My dad set up anything technical so that I wasn't given the chance to mess it up. The moving process was overall a smooth one, and a great start to the beginning of my life as a college student.