Weekend of Welcome

It's hard to believe I'm typing this from my newly-moved-into dorm room. It's taken a little getting used to, but I am now settled in. My organization skills still aren't amazing, but most things have specific places. The past three days have really been packed – Tuesday I struggled to get everything moved in, and decorate my room. Look up for a panorama of our room, or below for a close-up of my side.

Yes, my side of the dorm has a stool.

Finally met Stacey, who is just as cool as I thought she'd be. There weren't many people on campus for those first two days; only out-of-state freshmen and people who couldn't make the in-state orientations like myself. In fact, I was all alone in my dorm for the first night. Well, except for the president. Yup, you heard me – the big man on campus has his own separate house that takes up half of our entire dorm. He's great; he even offered to cook dinner for us sometime.

I signed up for my classes at orientation, but, being in the unfortunate last group, I didn't get most of the classes I wanted. Calculus was entirely full, and trying to schedule around rowing meant I had to maneuver my remaining classes around. My final classes ended up being The Principles of Macroeconomics, The Bible & Its Interpretation (required to graduate,) English 5 Honors, Greek Thought (a Great Books Seminar, required of the college) and a first year advising cohort class (F.Y.A.C, .25 credits) called “Champs' Life.” We've already met our Seminar professor and discussed Plato's Analogy of the Cave. Later in the week everyone met with their advisor and F.Y.A.C class. I'm excited for classes to start tomorrow – there's quite honestly nothing as fun as the first day. Honestly, after that, you have real work....

Me and Stacey after painting the SMC sign.

Weekend of Welcome came after orientation, where they educated the freshmen, welcomed them, and treated them to some SMC experiences. It got a little tiring having every second planned out for you, but Stacey and I got through it with a healthy amount of grumbling. One of the more exciting things was painting the SMC sign up on the hill of Saint Mary's. There are no paintbrushes used, and afterwards, everyone ends up looking something like Stacey and I do to the left. 

Everyone else in Siena Hall (the official name of my dorm) has moved in, and there are a grand total of 9 girls living in the hall, excluding the RA. Still, our rooms are very big; way bigger than any of the other freshmen hall's. Our neighbors seem nice, just like everyone else at SMC. I'm excited to make more friends and get to know more of my fellow students.

Maybe I'll post again when classes start. Then again, hopefully I'll be too busy to even think of it. :)

It's Coming

The time has come to finish up dorm shopping and begin to pack for college. After today I'll be jumping in the car and driving 75 minutes to Moraga, California, where I'll move in to Saint Mary's College of California. Soon, I'll be saying goodbye to Davis for a look at a whole new experience – freshman year of college.

I'm starting this blog mainly as a way to keep people I care about updated about my college experiences. I can't wait to start school, and I know that it'll be tough to let everyone know each and every detail of my SMC life, so I plan to cover some of the basics right here. As of right now, I haven't chosen my classes or even gone to orientation; I missed the in-state orientations when I was in Nicaragua with my school physics group. So instead I'll be attending the out-of-state orientation right before school starts, on August 24^th. I move in the day before early in the morning. Let's hope I can get all my stuff arranged before I go off to my math placement exam.

I'm also excited about meeting my roommate, fellow rowing recruit Stacey. We've been messaging back and forth since summer began, and we get along quite well. It'll be awesome to finally see each other in person. We won't officially meet the rest of the team till our first crew meeting on August 29^th. We can work out on the rowing machines at the gym near our dorm before then – got to stay in shape. Then, conditioning begins a week later on September 6^th. Looks like I'll experience two “labor days” in a row. ;)

Back to the dorms, though. Stacey and I are rooming in a double in Saint Catherine of Siena Hall. I'm so happy I'm not in a triple – I really did not want the added stress of fighting over two closets. I'm told our small dorm has bigger rooms – I think I can get over the very Catholic name if that's true. I'm starting to realize that a Catholic school might not be as liberal as Davis, CA....

I've said my goodbyes to almost everyone. There have been tears, of course, and a lot of smiles and promises. I hope I can keep them all. These past few weeks have been a very bittersweet experience, as I knew they would be. But enough on that, everyone knows leaving for college is sad, and exciting. I'll probably post again with some pictures of my dorm room, and SMC. Wish me luck!

-Michelle