Whoo! I finally have some free time to blog. My first day as both a college student and an almost-completely-legal adult has gone well so far. But before I get into that, I'll update on my first weekend on campus. Well, as much as I can remember, anyway.
Thursday morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn (about 6am). Every now and then, my alarm goes off really loudly. I never use the radio on it, though I think the volume knob is what makes the alarm louder. Anyway, I had one of those loud alarm rude awakenings that morning. Not fun, also because it was the last time I'd really be waking up in that bed, living at home. I got ready, gathered everything together, and ate some waffles. I miss those waffles. I got a bit teary looking around my sort-of empty room, checking to see if I'd forgotten anything. I miss my room.
There was minimal traffic up here, so we made good time even though we got here later than I'd wanted to. We got turned around trying to find the hall, but we got here okay. I managed to get all my stuff moved in fairly easily. It was hella hot, though. My parents drove me to the Student Union for lunch and to pick up my books. The books weren't ready (more on that later), but I did get some Chik-Fil-A. And Dominique ran into me, literally. I saw her at graduation; she was in my engineering class with Avondet junior year and on the battlebot team with Mark and me.
After lunch, my parents drove me back to Easton (my hall) and said goodbye. I spent a while unpacking. We had a floor meeting that afternoon. The icebreaker was okay, but I got a boring question: favorite color. I wanted "Do you have a birthmark?" -- I have one on my neck that looks like Japan.
I woke up at the crack of dawn again on Friday. I expected my roommate that morning, so I wanted to be up and dressed whenever she came. Jenny showed up around 9, I think. She's pretty cool; a biology major. She brought a lot more stuff than I did, though. I didn't think about rearranging the furniture until after I'd unpacked, so she actually wound up with better stuff. So much for the moving-in-first advantage. I also noticed some things I forgot to note on my Room Condition Report. I really hope ResLife doesn't try to charge me for that.
Mykella and I went to brunch while Jenny unpacked. The Diner (one of two dining halls) is only about 5 mins. away. Mykella lives two doors down, which is awesome. Justin B. actually lives on the floor, too, on the guys' side. Anyway, I got some free ice cream and an Honors t-shirt after that, then went to another floor meeting. After floor meeting, we went to convocation, which UMD calls New Student Welcome. That was cool. They brought the whole marching band to perform and lead us through the victory song. It's hard to sing a song when you don't know the tune, so I just joined in on the "M-A-R-Y-L-A-N-D" part. They gave us chicken for dinner, which was not great, but not bad, either. Iris, Mykella, and I met Colleen, who just randomly sat next to us while we were eating. The four of us wandered around the carnival on the floor of Comcast, then Colleen went back to her dorm. Mykella, Iris, and I went to the Book Center, then to the Hoff Theater. They were showing
Prisoner of Azkaban for free, so I was super excited. We were late, but I still had an awesome time. Got to see all my favorite Ron/Hermione moments. After that, we wandered. We went to Iris's room, then up to see Anita.
Saturday, I got up early
again to meet my mom. She brought me some more stuff, then we went in search of books. The Book Center didn't have all of mine, so we went out the off-campus Book Exchange. They had one of the books I was looking for, but the other was never even ordered. She took me to lunch again, then dropped me off with my stuff. I went to another floor meeting, then got dressed after guiding Greg up to campus. I had to talk longer than I'd planned, so I just parked Greg in the lounge while I changed. We went to the Olive Garden. I had manicotti, but it was just too cheesy for me to finish. Ricotta is great, but not that much at once. Then we came back here. Greg made me birthday cupcakes that said "Happy B-Day Lindsay." I couldn't help but think of the cake Hagrid gives Harry in SS, though I know Greg's cupcakes must have tasted better. He got me the best presents: SS
and CoS on DVD, since I left the other copies at home for my family; SS in hardcover, so my collection finally matches; some really cute pink heart jewelry; and a
Finding Nemo poster for my wall. He's such a sweetie. <3
Yesterday was a lazy day. I got to sleep in (finally!). Jenny and I went out for brunch. I had French toast and lunch food. I've been to both dining halls. The food's not great, but it could be much worse. I walked around to find the buildings for all my classes, then... well, I know I did something yesterday. After dinner, Jenny and I watched the VMA's on MTV. It was a good show. I was glad Yellowcard won an award. The lead singer was crying; that was so cute. It was a little disconcerting seeing Mandy Moore next to Marilyn Manson (huh, two "M&M's"), but she looked gorgeous as always. I also ran into Mandy (the girl I met at orientation) on the way out of the Diner, which was cool. I should track her down so we can get together.
This morning, I got up early so I'd have some extra time. The showers are very small, but manageable. I have long legs, so believe me when I say I now feel I can handle more than I previously thought I could. I wound up being ready early, so I walked over the Union. I stopped to cash a check at the bank so I'd have money for the last book I needed. Anyway, after I got through the Book Center (which went pretty fast, considering the crowd), I sat in the Union and read. Then I went to geography, which was not fun. It seems like a boring class. Anita was there, though, and I met a random nice girl, though I can't remember her name to save my life. Anita and I stopped by South Campus for lunch. I was running early, so I sat on the Mall (like the one in DC) and read some more, then went to math class. My teacher has a very thick Asian accent, but he writes on the board, and his handwriting is good enough, so I should be okay. After math, I took a very long, very hot walk back to the dorm. Campus may feel smaller than the maps make it look, but still. I finally got back upstairs, read some more, then went to my Honors Humanities seminar. Professor Jung is so articulate. She knows her stuff. I felt bad because I hadn't done the reading (I totally forgot about it!), and then all the speed-reading I'd done wasn't necessary. After that last class ended at 5, I came back up here. I've got a hall meeting in 15 mins., so I'm going to post this and check the mail.
I think I might be able to do this whole college thing.
Last week's
Friday Five that I missed.
1. It the election were tomorrow, who would you vote for? I'm a pretty conservative person by nature, but I think I'd have to go for Kerry.
2. What are the main things that lead you to vote for a certain person? Right now, it'd have to be their position on education (student loans and college costs) and foreign affairs (getting the parents of my fellow military "brats" out of Iraq and such).
3. Where do you get your info on the candidates? Honestly, from MTV and
Seventeen. I am so the opposite of politically aware.
4. Who was president when you were born? Reagan, I think. Him or Bush the Elder.
5. If you could choose anyone, dead or alive, to be president, who would it be? Hmm. I don't think Ghandi would count; not a citizen. I don't know.
