Living with Friends

I do not know about you, but when I was in grade school (high school included), I thought it would be awesome if all of my friends lived in the same neighborhood or if we had least had secret underground tunnels that would lead to each others' houses. That way, it would be way easier to hang out! Now, living in a college dorm, I kind of know how that would actually turn out. It is quite easy to hang out with friends, which is awesome! ... Except if you have a lot of work to do.

I got so behind in my BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) class this week because I would continuously get distracted from being in a dorm hall. On Wednesday evening, I was planning on catching up on all of my BMZ notes, but my friends and I ended up hanging out with the girl who lives in the single next door to me instead. I ended up studying in the building where my Philosophy class is held to have a more quiet study area temporarily. At least the building's view is beautiful!

I feel like a nerd, but the main reason I'm thankful for this three-day weekend now upon us is so I can catch up, and maybe even get ahead, on my homework. Plus, most of the Ohio residents in my hall have left for home since it is Labor Day weekend (my roommate and my friend Courtney's roommate included), so it should be more quiet and easier to concentrate than usual. Although, I am really happy that Courtney is also an out-of-state student (she's from Georgia!) and is not going home so that I will not be alone!

I'm planning on video messaging in some way with my family, and my best friends Gaby, Krista, and Hannah this weekend. So, I suppose it can almost be like I'm going home, but not really. I'll get a taste of home at least. 

In other news... (sorry, I rarely have the spare time to write, so these might be long). My roommate walked into the hallway the other day and saw this.

How does that even happen? We're on the third floor, I really want to know who carried one of the construction cones from outside up three flights of stairs and left it toppled over in the hallway. Oh well, we didn't question it much, my roommate just described it as "so college!"

Our hall also all had a day where we went outside and painted doorstops for our dorms. I thought they were going to be bricks, but apparently that is not allowed anymore for some reason. By the time that anyone shared the paint with us, we only had three colors: red, white, and black. School spirit? Ashton (my roommate) had to make her own pink, and she also made the black one for our Resident Assistant, Stephanie. My awesome art skills went into the red one (note sarcasm).



Oh, and how could I almost forget how intense the Miami University Symphony Orchestra is so far. I had an appointment with the viola teacher, and apparently taking lessons as a class is an option. However, the lessons are way more intense than any I have ever taken, and if I also plan on joining The Miami Student (Miami University's newspaper) along with my course load, I would probably lose my mind if I took them. So I decided to hold off on lessons, which I hope is okay. It is just weird because I'm the only violist who is neither a music major nor a minor, so everyone else is way more intense than I am - I hope the environment will not overwhelm me.

I love playing in an orchestra, but when it comes to personal performances and even just singling us out during viola sectionals, I tend to get stressed out. I hope I'll be able to handle everything I'm getting myself into. There are just so many options in college, it is hard to not do them all!



I'll leave you with a picture of the Center of Performing Arts in the distance.

Until next time!

~ Valerie

Getting Involved

Anyone who knows me knows that I stress out over anything and everything, even when it is completely unnecessary. Fortunately, my roommate aims to be as studious as me and she's hoping to avoid procrastinating, so at least I do not have to combat her convincing me to go out and party instead of completing my homework. Although, our two friends from down the hall have the tendency to procrastinate, so we always feel like bums when we say we have to stay and do our homework. Gladly though, I've finally caught up with my homework and I'm trying to figure out an organized schedule to avoid becoming too stressed out. I want to be able to go out on the weekends (I did bring a couple party/club dresses after all), so I want to be organized and on top of my time management in order to have time to do so.

My family sent me my first care package on Friday! I was excited, not so much for the couple block hike to the mail center, but still. I figured there would be food, and there was plenty. Candy, chocolate, and of course, Ramen (what every college student lives on, in my brother's opinion). 

The only area we have to put all of this lovely food is in my overhead compartment above my closet. Good thing my roommate is going to bring a step-stool when she goes home for Labor Day weekend next weekend because we can barely reach it! Short people problems.









In other news, I made the Miami University Symphony Orchestra!! We're going to New York City to perform in a concert at Carnegie Hall in early October. It's exciting, but I really hope the school is funding the trip :p. I'll have more information about it tomorrow. Although I'm excited to be a part of this group, I know it will be difficult because orchestra was such a slack off activity in high school, so now I actually have to go out of my way to practice outside of scheduled rehearsal time. I mean, the orchestra primarily consists of music majors to start with, so I really have to step up my game if I want to be able to perform well compared to them.

Everyone says that it is important to get involved right away once you begin college, it helps in making friends and finding a place at the University. So yesterday, when the annual "Mega Fair," which hosts all 400+ student organizations one could join, was held, I signed up to be more involved on campus. I found the school newspaper (who seemed pretty excited that I was a photographer with some experience, yay Spokesman!), the badminton club, a wildlife volunteer club, some environmentally green club, and I signed up to get more information to become a Resident Assistant. I do not want to overwhelm myself, but these just seemed like some activities I would love to be a part of.

So anyway, let's hope I can discover a way to manage my time well while still having time to have fun. After all, college is more than just grades and a grade point average!

~ Valerie

Stress Control

I've been here for almost a week now! And I already had a near stress attack yesterday, but that is not unusual for me.

Monday, the first day of class, I didn't want to risk taking the bus, so I decided to leave early to make sure I'd get there on time. Typical me, I ended up arriving forty minutes early. Awkward Freshman problems.

At least it was a beautiful day to be outside and to be early for class!

One thing I have learned that is greatly different than high school is that a majority of students are early for class. Like more than a half an hour early. I always think I'm awkwardly early and will be the first one there but nope, I have yet to be first, which is fine with me!

My main stress happened yesterday because of my audition for the Miami University Symphony Orchestra. I think it went pretty well, but I can never help but freak out over auditions. I will definitely know by Friday if I made it though!







Though currently, I've controlled my easily stressed tendency and I'm up to date on my homework and I'm now hanging out with friends in their room eating some pizza we had delivered. We're waiting for the hall to envy us ;D

Anyway, the construction outside our dorm windows has been much more of an issue than we had originally anticipated. I was aware that it would cause us to walk even more out of the way than necessary, but they start working at six o'clock in the morning, so they wake us up. And the trucks sound like alarm clocks when they back up, so it's great. It's also great when trying to study. Oh, and did I mention that they're building three new dorm halls so that they won't be done until 2014? It's greatttt. Above is the lovely view from our room.

My mom is concerned that I'll get so wrapped up in studying that I won't have any fun or do anything else than worry about my grades, so she'd be happy to know that I'm not fulfilling my nerd tendencies and I am not doing homework right now. Besides, I only have one class tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time! In the mean time, I think I'll just hang out with some of my new friends!

~ Valerie

Adjusting to College Life

So here I am! Trying to manage through my first few days of college. It hasn't really hit me yet since I haven't had any academic classes, it has mostly been random socials and welcome week planned events. So far, I'm really excited to live and go to school down here in Oxford. I get along with my roommate really well and we've started to find some people in our hall with similar interests and intentions.

Move in day was an adventure. My family had to leave by noon so that my brother could get to marching band in time back home, so my roommate, Ashton's, parents helped us unpack more after they left. We were lucky enough to get a room on the corner, which means two windows and plenty of space, but we still struggled to find a place for everything at the start since we both brought so much.
Everything is organized now though! We'll see how long that lasts...

The top is Ashton's end of the room and the bottom is mine! It was difficult to get everything into one picture. 

We've already has plenty of adventures. Neither Ashton nor I knew many people when coming here, so we've basically been hanging out together and meeting new people. 

On Thursday night we were supposed to have a block party outside, but it was raining so it ended up being moved inside of the rec center. That was so crowded it was crazy, and it was dark and raining when we were trying to walk home. Our dorm is off of main campus and we have to walk through a wooded bridge to get back. In the rainy darkness, it was interesting and creepy at the same time. During the day though, it's absolutely beautiful! 

Yesterday, there was another party planned but we didn't know what was going on so we and our new friend Alicia decided to head uptown to get some ice cream. We were leaving when everyone was just arriving to go party. We were surprised how basically no one was in our hall since everyone left to go hit the clubs or find a frat party, but gladly we found some people down the hall and talked to them for awhile. 

I'm so relieved that I'm finding people who did not go to college to drink, it's reinforcing my hope that I will not become the preppy, drunk Miami stereotype.

Oh well, there's a concert tonight and a Class of 2016 group picture being held on the football field, let's see how those go!



~ Valerie

Oh, and apparently I have a slight Chicago accent, woo!

Leaving Home

Since I decided to listen to my friend Krista and create a blog before I start college (I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'm cutting it close), it only seems appropriate to begin by introducing myself and by trying to begin the new stage of my life that is creeping ever closer.

So hi! I'm Valerie. I'm eighteen years old and will be a freshman at Miami University in just a matter of days! No, my school is not in Florida, it's in Ohio. In fact, Miami University existed before Florida was even a state, so anyone who calls it a copycat of Miami, Florida, has no real base behind their argument.





One of my hobbies is photography, so do not be surprised if I occasionally have many photos on here! One aspect that drew me to Miami University was how beautiful it is, this is a picture that I took while I attended Freshman Orientation in June.

Although I'm nervous to start school, I'm also very excited. Living six hours away from home will definitely be something new for me. My mom will no longer be there to help me find something I've lost which ends up being in plain view; my dog Maggie will no longer be close by to hug. I'll adjust though, we all will, and hopefully college will meet up to all of the hype. 

This is a picture of my dog, Maggie, that I had mentioned before. Ever since we had to put down our other dog, Rascal, in February, she really has helped us all get through it. I'm going to miss her so much. I can already tell I'll be one of those students who misses her dog more than her family, and I'm perfectly okay with that! 

Anyway, I should probably go finish packing now and start filling up the car with all of my belongings, I am moving tomorrow, after all!





~ Valerie