This past week has been the start of school for many semester colleges and universities. It's so weird to have to say goodbye to many of my friends as they head off to this next stage of their lives...and even weirder to think that it is still exactly one month from today until I start classes myself.
On Saturday, I spent the day going to move my friend Shelby into Gannon University in Erie, PA. Her sister couldn't come, so she invited me along, and I figured why not? It seemed like it would be fun. Which it was! We arrived after about an hour and a half of driving and pulled up to the curb, where her dad proceeded to throw pile upon pile of stuff onto the grass nearby. Picture flying suitcases, pillows, and teddy bears, and you pretty much get the picture. From there, the ROTC guys helped us lug (and I mean *lug*) her things up to her room, where we met her roommate and their family. A ridiculous amount of time was spent arranging and rearranging the bulky furniture in the room into every configuration possible for the 12x16 foot area we had at our disposal, only to settle on the way that it had been in the first place, and the rest of the day flew by! There was convocation, a class picture, dinner at a local restaurant, and a last-minute goodbye as Shelby rushed to her first floor meeting.
Now, Gannon is a lot smaller than Ohio State. They have somewhere around 4,000 students and the entire campus occupies a few blocks of the city of Erie as opposed to OSU's approximate 60,000 students and 3,500 acres of Columbus. So, needless to say, the atmosphere was astonishingly different. It was interesting to see how their move-in day was operated.....and obviously I couldn't help but start to imagine how Ohio State's is going to be. I got a dry run at what it's like to move in - what to bring and what not to, what I might want to do differently - thank you to Shelby and her parents, and now my anticipation can only build from here!
With three more days of nannying to go, it's unbelievable that I have so much free time for summer ahead of me. While I'm already planning some fun things that I hope to accomplish (and blog about of course!) before summer ends, I have a bit more back-to-school shopping to get done as well. Next up for BeingBuckeye? The LIST. It's an insane list that has pretty much everything I might possibly use in college, and I figure, why not remind you of what you might forget...or what you already forgot! ;D
Lessons learned:
- While an exact replica of that dorm room you see in a college catalog might look slick and put-together, don't forget the homey touches. It's amazing what some pictures on the wall and personal touches can do to make you feel at home.
- Make sure your dorm's beds can actually be lofted before you plan on putting all of your bins and storage under there, only to realize that they can't be raised at all and your dad has to run to Target for smaller under-the-bed bins...*ahem, Shelby*
- Dorm rooms are really darn small. I mean, obviously that's a given, but there was a lot less space in there than I truly ever expected. Plan accordingly!
- Nothing can fully prepare you for saying goodbye to amazing friends you've known for years. I'm really gonna miss you guys :(
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