Convocation (yeah, I don't know what it means either)

Yesterday we all had to load up (smoosh into) buses and we went to the Coliseum for Convocation. Basically it's a university welcome. Fieldcrest was in section 26 and I sat at the very top! It was pretty cool. This is the stadium empty. We must have been one of the first groups to get there because it took forever before all the other halls and commuters got there. This picture shows about half of the crowd.

This was when we were about to get started. It took forever to get everyone in there and ready to go. It was pretty boring waiting. It seems that most of the people on my floor are freshman and they are some of the most immature people...they were all talking about all the partying that they did the night before.

Basically we had to sit and watch a little video that they made of someone trying to get to the coliseum because "it starts there." Then the basketball coach got up and said a few words as did one of the philosophy professors and the new president and the SGA president and the mascot and some student athletes and...you get the picture, right? Basically we heard praises sung in honor of WVU for about an hour before we were allowed to go home. Oh, we got these tee shirts for free:

The reason was one of our student speakers was giving a talk on WVU traditions. One of these traditions is the "Lets Go Mountaineers" chant. Another is the "Country Roads" song. When the girl mentioned Country Roads I swear a bunch of people started squealing. They said that whenever you're at a game and we win the WVU fans all link arms and sway back and forth while singing Country Roads. And then they made us put on our WVU tees and practice. People were getting really into it. The row in front of me was really into it; all of them were holding hands and singing and swaying...my row not so much. The two girls next to me were singing it, and they're from Kentucky and Philly, I don't know the song and the guys next to me just looked at his feet. Oh well. Maybe some of this Mountaineer pride will rub off on me before my time here is up.

Classes start today. I have Trig and Ceramics tonight! Wahoo! I'm glad I got into the Ceramics class. I almost got into Ballroom dancing because there was an opening, but I had a time conflict with my social psychology class. Bummer. I'm also taking Uni 101, Chem 2, Chem 2 lab, and a minor course for Family and Consumer science. For some reason I thought I was taking 7 courses, but I'm only taking 6. I would have liked to pick up a piano class, but I had a major restricion so I can't. I guess it gives me time to work though. I need to go out and find a job. I think getting through this first week without working though will help because it will help me figure out how much time I need to get around places.

I'll write again after my classes.

Dorm room:

Well, this is almost everything I brought with me to school. We packed up the car on Thursday afternoon and this is mainly what came with me. My laptop case isn't in there, and there may be one or two other small things that I didn't pack up. But yes, the sewing machine did come with me and so did some other crafting stuff. I have to bring some stuff with me, right? :) So this is my room. My home away from home. It seems so weird. But it's nicer than I thought it would be. I get the bottom bunk! And I get the dressar that's farthest away from the beds. I practically have the whole room to myself because my roommate is pretty much living with her boyfriend this semester. It's kind of nice because I don't think we really click. At all.

This is my desk. I've never had a desk before so it's kind of nice to have one now. I have my mini-fridge next to it too. This is my roommate's desk. She brought shelving and everything. She seems like a very organized person. Maybe I'll learn something from her. I'm not exactly the most organized person. That door is our bathroom. I was so happy that I didn't have to share a bathroom with a bajillion people. Call me snobby or germaphobic, but I am much happier with my own bathroom!

These are my roommate's fish. They are live-bearing fish and they eat their own young. When I first saw them there was a little baby fish swimming around. I didn't see it again till this morning. I thought it had gotten eaten, but it looks like it's surviving still. Though I'm not quite sure how. I don't know if my roommate has actually fed them since she put them in here.
So college life is quite an adjustment. I'm not sure I actually like it. And even though I'm not going to parties, you can't get away from some of the wild crazy stuff down here. Last night I went out with Courteney, which was fun. It made me feel more relaxed about being here. She showed me the Rec Center and where to catch the bus to get to class and things like that. I found my PRT station yesterday. I went out and caught the PRT downtown to the MountainLair and had someone show me where my classes are going to be. But I'm changing my class schedule so it will be a little bit different. I dropped physics and I'd like to drop accounting. I want to pick up a music class or dancing class, but so far when I tried to register it won't let me do anything.

We're going out this afternoon for something called Convocation. It's a University welcome and is a requirement for University 101 which I'm not taking this semester but will apparently need to take in order to graduate. Honestly, I feel like I'm just going to try to get through this semester and if I don't like it by the time I finish I'll transfer back home. I miss my family and the dogs. And my friends and my car and knowing how to get everywhere. I didn't think I'd feel homesick but I do. I'm glad I'm going home this coming weekend. It will be sort of a relief.

So last night I set off my fire alarm in my room. I took a shower and when I came out of the bathroom I left the bathroom door open and the steam set off my fire alarm. I was pretty embarrased! I had originally thought that everyone's alarms were going off because someone pulled the fire alarm but, no, it was just my room. People were coming out of their rooms to see what was going on and two of my RAs came in and told me to start fanning the alarm and then they said to open my window the next time I took a shower.

So now I'm a little bit afraid to take a shower! Ha ha!

Courteney is taking me to the Bible study she goes to on Tuesday night. We're also going to try to take a yoga class at the Rec Center. It should be fun. The rec center is really nice.

Oh yeah, one last thing: I got my braces off on Wednesday! No more metal mouth! Except I do have to wear my retainer for a year so that's not really fun. But it's still better than braces. I'm pretty pleased!

Back from orientation and just a little disoriented~

On Thursday afternoon Dad and I left for Morgantown to visit my new "home" for at least the next 2 years. Unless I drop out, flunk out or transfer someplace different.

We stopped at the Coliseum first. I had to take the Quantitative Reasoning Assessment at 7:30 pm. It was awful! After all the students finished taking the QRA we boarded the bus that took us back to the Coliseum. It is kinda nice inside. I didn't think to take a picture of the outside.

Dad and I drove around and saw the Medical campus and the downtown campus. The Medical campus (or Evansdale campus) looks much newer. I personally think the downtown campus is prettier. I didn't get any pictures of the Medical campus or my dorm (although I drove past it a few times), but I was able to go outside during lunch on Friday (when the actual orientation took place in the Mountain Lair) and get some pictures of the street we were on.
Here they are:






It was a long day. We started off by checking in and getting our photo ids taken (mine was pretty bad...even Dad said so, haha!) and then meeting upstairs in the ballroom where we "met" some of the staff and learned a little bit about the school. We went to meetings with our Resident Faculty Leaders (RFLs or Riffles) to learn about our residence halls and the events they have planned there. We talked to advisors and set up schedules. I have the worst courseload ever! Chemistry, Physics, Trigonometry, Accounty and Social Psychology. And I may have another class too which I can't remember right now. I have labs for the science courses too. It's pretty awful. I have to take all the math classes as prerequisites for the science courses. I have to take the science courses as prerequisites for the nutrition courses. I'm not sure when I'll get to take the actual nutrition courses. Hopefully next semester! I'm thinking I may try to get some of the science courses next summer when I'm home on break. Even though I would hate to take summer classes I think it would be better than trying to cram everything in during the regular semester. We had lunch and then finalized our schedules and picked up our photo ids and checked out the organizational fair and then went home. I drove all the way home! It went very well. The worst part was merging on to 70 and then onto 81. But God kept us safe and we arrived home around 6-6:30 pm.

I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous and sad that I'm leaving for school. I don't have this overwhelming excitement about going. I will miss my family and friends here. I worry that I won't make friends. I worry that I'll hate my classes. I worry my roommate and I won't get along. I worry I will get totally lost and be mugged or something. I feel like I'll be completely out of my element. I'm sure I'll be out of my element. All things that I have to give to God and trust with Him. Mom and Dad have told me that they won't be the least bit upset if I decide I don't want to go back. They say I can always transfer somewhere else. They also said I can get married and quit school if I meet someone and decide to do that (It sounds like a funny thing to say but I have friends whose parents would be furious if their daughters did that). I won't be happy though until I give it a try. There are a few things I'm excited about. There are lots of clubs to get involved in including Campus Crusade for Christ, Baptist College Ministries, Cooking Club, American Dietetics group, a great student recreation center with lots of exercise classes, various trips and other things. I'm trying to focus on those things instead of the 'what ifs' and negative thoughts I have. I'm trying to remember that God has a plan for me. I'm trying to remember that I'm never alone because Jesus is always with me. I'm trying to remember that this is an opportunity to grow closer to Him and to glorify Him.

I don't deal with changes and transitions very well. I'm definitely a work in progress when it comes to that!