Welcome to College. Please to Mind Your Shoes.

Ladies and gentlemen, whatever designation you please,

Welcome to my college life.

My university of choice is Oglethorpe University of Atlanta.

My designation is as part of the flock of Stormy Petrels, a group that is weird simply by way of choosing to join this school rather than backing away slowly after a short meeting with the Dean of Students.

I’m writing this on the last day of Orientation, in hopes of keeping a record of my college life in some brief detail.

Ha! Look! English major peeking out up there.

Anyway, let’s begin with the first day.

I arrived on-campus with my mother, and we moved me into Traer dorm. My roommate (who shall not be named), a cross-country runner, had informed me that there had been a mistake made with room assignments, and as an athlete, she was supposed to be rooming with another athlete, because of their early schedules. I soon found out that this had been a lie from my new roommate, Tes, who had been strong-armed out of her rooming assignment by my apparently not-so-sweet former roomie.

Glory.

Fortunately, we’re a much better match than (Unnamed she) and I would have been.

The proof is in the practice, see?

That night, I began having severely depressed thoughts about my family and home. I called my mother in hopes of calming myself down, but it only seemed to work for a short while, after which point I became nauseous, and started a regimen of burping, vomiting, and dry-heaving into a bucket by my bedside.

I became homesick. Literally.

My roommate was up with me nearly the entire time, and we both had a mandatory service project the next morning.

Soon, she asked if she should run and get the R.A. (an angel named Ariele, all luck to her), who came over right away (At 2 a.m.) and suggested, to start, a compress for my throat.

After talking to me for a bit, she called campus safety, who also called and asked me questions, before calling the paramedics.

I shot a call to my mother at around this point, who was not attending her phone at this point, and left a message that was perhaps not, in retrospect, the most intelligent.

Something along the lines of, ‘Hey, mom. It’s me. I told you I’ve been feeling sick…um…I’ve been throwing up since around 12, and I just wanted you to know, they’re calling the paramedics. But don’t panic. It’s not like I’m going to the hospital, or anything.’

I don’t think she’s actually heard the message yet, because I scared her out of her mind when she called back and I told her what was happening.

Anyway, the paramedics came and went, leaving me with a simple, ‘Probably the flu. Drink fluids, take Tylenol.’ Which is, of course, widely helpful in a student dorm where the drink machine is unplugged and the students (at present) have no Tylenol.

Mercifully, the R.A. decided to excuse me from the next morning’s service project, but not Tes, which was a bit awkward. I apologized for the better part of the night.

A bit after everyone left, my mother drove over from her hotel to sleep in my tiny little bed and pet my hair all night.

It seemed that I was allergic to the dorm.

-

The next day, I ‘woke up’ (and I use the term lightly, as I have not yet experienced full, uninterrupted sleep in my wee dorm bed) to my mother getting more of my things unpacked for me, organizing things so I wouldn’t have to worry about them.

I asked her if she was leaving, and she promised she wouldn’t until I told her it was all right.

I took a shower while all of my suitemates were out at the project, leaving me time to try (and fail) to understand the workings of our shower, and perform my daily hygiene rituals.

Afterward, my mother and I bawled for a bit before she decided to take me to the nurse and get me to eat something (which was, for that day, just about the last thing I wanted to do).

The nurse was out, so we left the Student Center, expecting to head off-campus and eat together.

That plan was nixed when we ran into Tes, who informed us that the next seminar was mandatory for students, and would not give us enough time to leave campus.

Back to the Student Center!

We walked into the cafeteria, and the nurse ran up to us from behind, calling for my mother.

She said, ‘We must have just missed each other.’ And proceeded to take the pizza (which was the mildest thing I’d seen) from my hand, put it in my mother’s, and tell me that mom would eat it.

Instead, she gave me half a bagel with butter.

At this point in time, people, you have no idea how awesome this woman is. Kathy Grote is, presently, the queen of my fool heart.

After that, I proceeded to part with my mother and head to another seminar, followed by a QnA on Greek Life.

During both of which, I couldn’t seem to stop crying.

--

Skipping over things, really.

It is now the first Friday of school. I’ve made it through an entire week, and I’m really starting to adjust (Less tears, better sleeping).

Planning to Rush, if I can, and join a few organizations.

Making friends and terrorizing people has never been so much fun!

I’ll probably edit this later, to include more, but right now I’m too excitable to sit still and type it all.

^o^

--

Today, Tes had a little mishap on our way out of the Student Center with Heather and Janet.

The creek (which is really more of a dry ditch with a drain by the walkway) had flooded with the rain.

We had been using the stonewall between the two to keep out of the massive mud puddles, but when Tes climbed up, her phone took a rather graceful dive into said roaring rain-current.

In trying to fish it out, she fell in just after.

And lost both her room key and one of her shoes.

She tossed the other one in out of frustration.

Most of this has been caught on video tape.

I bought her a new pair, so she’d still have sandals, but she’s still a little mad at me.

But we’re assuming it will be funny for her, too, once she has a new key (hopefully free of charge).

It was worth it.

>:3

-Hillary, Queen of College Terror