I'm a Totally Legit College Student, guys.

I'm all moved in here at college. The boxes have been unpacked, the knick knacks are arranged, and far too many extension cords and power strips have been plugged in.

I feel a bit like an impostor here. Like it's my assignment as an alien from outer space to assume the role of a College Student. I find myself checking in the mirror, "Do I look like a College Student?What about my Books? How exactly should I carry them? Are my Backpack Straps adjusted properly for optimum College?"

Passes students in the hall. Nods politely. "Hello, Fellow Human College Students!"

Anyway...

Information Overload 

That's another thing going through my head at the moment. I'm running all over the place to meetings and orientations and presentations where the goal is to gain an understanding of College Life and What to Expect. There's a lot to process all at once, but I'm sifting through it, filing away papers as best I can and making lots of notes and lists.

Culture Shock

Things you're not told at college:

• When to wake up
• Whether to shower in the morning or evening (though showering at some point is required)
• How long to spend brushing your teeth
• How long to spend studying your homework

This is new for me... I mean, I'm an Adult. Which means I'm responsible for those decisions. When I'm not at College I live at home with my parents, because I'm poor. So there's some immediate accountability there.  But here at College, it's a little bit different kind of responsibility. I'm adjusting to that slowly. 

The School Part of Things

That's what honestly scares me a bit. I haven't been in study mode for at least a year and a half. But on Monday I'm jumping right into College Level Academics. It'll be the hardest I've ever worked in my life, mentally at least. So we'll have to see how that goes. If it goes well, I'll be posting here once in a while to update the world on What I'm Up To. If it does not go well, I'll probably just go silent here for a while.

I'm excited and nervous and hopeful and apprehensive. We'll see.

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Offroading in a Honda Civic

I've got amazing friends. The kind that would throw me an unforgettable surprise going away party on my last weekend before I leave for college.

I finished up my last day at my factory job on Friday morning. I knew I was going to go spend some time with six of my friends. The plan was to go hang out at one house, then caravan to another, spend the night, and do some geocaching on Saturday. We did that, but what I didn't know is that they had all been planning for about a month to surprise me. So when we got back early Saturday afternoon, I thought things were winding down and I was going to head home soon. But the party was just getting started. I went to the basement and suddenly people were jumping out of closets and rooms, yelling "SURPRISE!"

As it turns out, they'd been orchestrating the whole weekend so that I wouldn'd have any idea what was going on. So I was completely surprised when the party doubled in size. That afternoon and night we did some ATV'ing on the trails in the woods. Which bring me to the next part of this story...

About two hours later I was lost in the middle of nowhere, next to a cornfield, sitting in my car with my friend.

"Just turn here," he said. "This will get us back on the gravel road," he said. "We're not gonna get lost."

Well, we did get lost. And the only way out was to drive through weeds and grass that were tall enough to  completely hide my car. We were hitting terrain that the poor thing was never designed for. Eventually we made our way out, but it was intense. The car was a little dirty but fine overall. I should write to Honda and let them knnow their '98 Civic is actually a pretty decent offroad vehicle. The six inch ground clearance and street tires just add to the experience.

It was so great spending time with all of these guys, I hadn't been able to do much over the summer because of my intense work schedule. This week is very hectic for me, I'm leaving my home and moving to college for the first time. I'm saying goodbye to a lot of people I really care about and will miss. I'm starting out on the biggest undertaking of My Life So Far, and it's scary. But this weekend I was reminded how lucky and thankful I am to have great friends. That's one thing I never want to lose.

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