I Am Freshman, Hear Me Roar

View from the Kimmel Center, 9th Floor

Hello friends and family! It seems that blogging in college is going to prove harder than it originally seemed. I have only been here for 6 days, and yet I feel like a month's worth of activities and socializing has already transpired. I have very quickly realized that college is less scary than it is incredibly and ridiculously busy.

And socially exhausting. I moved into my freshman residence hall on Saturday, along with 4,000 other students, and now it seems I must have exchanged numbers with at least a third of them. Every freshman here is caught in this very strange place where we want to make good friends as fast as possible, and in the process we end up reaching out to literally anyone with the uncertain gait and look of confusion tell-tale of a college newbie. It's totally overwhelming, especially for me who is used to being in a social environment for only 7 hours versus 24. But it's also really cool-- I've never met more people from so many different countries and places consecutively in my whole life (and, of course, made so much awkward, repetitive conversation with so many of them!). 

Some fellow Freshman I forced to be my friend at the University's Presidential Welcome in Madison Square Garden 

My typically chaotic desk

It's all been very surreal. But setting up my side of the dorm room, with all the stuff I associate with home, was actually the easiest part. In fact, having things like my favorite little pillow, my photographs, my DVDs, and my books in this new setting has made my transition feel a bit more normalized. I might have to familiarize myself with how to find dining hall food which is not a) perpetually cold, b) questionable, or c) hella expensive, but getting used to calling my little corner of the room comfortable and homey has not been an issue. This may be easier for me to say than other freshman considering I have A/C and heating at my disposal (not all residence halls do), but I'm certainly glad it worked out that way (for me...the other kids, I'm truly sorry. Manhattan humidity, I have come to learn, is its own, special breed of hell). 

We did see *Lake Bell walking back from Kmart one time

Other than that, I'm really just trying to get my bearings and learn as much about my surroundings as possible. Every day I become more confident in my route to Washington Square Park or the different university buildings in my area. The tricky part will be becoming comfortable outside the streets I've become used to taking every day, but all in good time. My roommates and I have already ventured to--prepare yourself--the local Kmart and CVS, so clearly we're making good ground. 

Speaking of roommates, mine are actually pretty awesome. I'm not just saying that because they follow me on Facebook (hi guys), but because I genuinely feel that I got so lucky being randomly paired with two very sweet and easy-to-live-with girls. Our triple room is connected by a spacious hallway to a double, which also houses two amazing people. We've already had a suite-mate conference, where we discussed all our concerns and ground rules in regards to living with each other, and agreed this made us the most mature and sophisticated suite on campus. Best of all, they're all CLEAN. They don't wear shoes to bed! They're conscious of how smelly food goes into the trashcan with a lid! The shower drain is never gross! Like I said, sophistication. 

First roommate selfie! They are still unaware of how many selfies I normally take! That will change!

Overpriced, pre-start of classes, celebratory Gelato

Classes have just begun, and now that my room is settled, my phone is bursting with Freshman names and contacts, and my roommates and I have established that if someone takes something of ours without asking they will be undoubtedly evicted, I'm officially ready to tackle this school year with a semi-excited state of mind. Luckily, I have a four day weekend (yay no Friday classes! Yay Labor Day!) to also tackle the mountainous load of reading I've been assigned on what I merely thought would be a "Syllabus Day" for each of my new classes. Stay tuned. It's bound to get uglier from here (mostly meaning I have to read the entire Epic of Gilgamesh before Wednesday and there's literally nothing I've ever wanted to do less). 

First NY slice!

Jordan Carlos Comedy Show

Stay "suite" y'all (that was for you, D-Naga),

-Danielle