Orientation

 

     If you question whether or not college, or the summer before, is going to be stressful, you shouldn't, because it is! Between buying dorm stuff and getting ready to live on your own, and having to register for classes, stress is pretty much a guarantee. For the few people who have the mental capacity to not stress about anything I applaud you. I posses no such mental capacity.

     Being that I'll be at the University of Georgia and there's 5,299 other incoming freshman, orientation sessions filled up pretty fast. I registered the morning after registration opened and all the sessions were filled until the end of July, just 3 weeks before move-in day. There were 11 orientation sessions before mine, and all those people got to sign up for their classes before me, which only added to the stress. I finally got my orientation out of the way last week. I made it through two whole days of random information being thrown in my face, meetings with advisors and organizations, resource fairs, campus tours, dorm tours, group meetings, and a million other things. We were forced to make friends, which was one of my least favorite parts. At the end of the two days I was registered for most of my classes and I formed, kinda, an idea about what to expect in 2 weeks. I'm excited to be a dawg. There's over 35,000 students enrolled at UGA but the sense of community is almost overwhelming.

     One piece of advice I have for you: make sure you stay on top of things. You aren't in high school anymore and there wont be people all over you reminding you to fill out forms and sign up for things, its all up to you. You're an adult now.

Forever Friends

 

5 years ago my family took our first cruise on Disney Cruise Line. Having never been on a cruise before, we didn't really know what to expect. Although, one thing we DEFINITELY didn't expect was to be put at the same dinner table as another family of 5, from yes, Ohio. We were completely blind- sided and neither family knew what to do. After locating our table and discovering it was half full of complete strangers, we introduced ourselves, and sat on what was to be the "Seeses" side of the table... for that night anyways. After some forced conversation we realized that even though we were from two very different states, we had a lot more in common than we originally thought. All us kids are really close in age, 2 years at most between all of us, that at the time ranged from 10 to 16. Dinner the rest of the week was something we all looked forward to. the food was unreal, our servers (who followed us from restaurant to restaurant every night) were hilarious, and the company was impeccable. By the end of the week, the table was no longer separated by family, but by kids an adults, and our time together wasn't just limited to dinner. When the cruise was over, we said our goodbyes and exchanged phone numbers, promising to stay in touch. We all know that people thrown together so unexpectedly rarely stay in touch. Fortunately that wasn't the case for us. Two years later we found ourselves spending our spring break in always- cloudy Ohio with none other than the cruise family! We caught up at the Columbus Zoo, and for old time's sake, we had dinner together. Again, we said our goodbyes and headed for Georgia once again. After that we did lose touch, somewhat. About a month ago one of the boys texted me saying they were going to be in Georgia. Their mom got in touch with my mom and plans began to roll. Both of our families are significantly older now and we're all beginning to go our separate ways so a reunion was beginning to look impossible. Thank goodness the middle kids ( me and the boy standing behind me- far left in the picture) took matters into our own hands. We made fool-proof plans to spend our Fourth of July together. As the Fourth neared, I began to get a little nervous, thinking things would be awkward now that we are so much older. I have never been more wrong in my entire life. Our day started at lunch time in Atlanta, and ended back in Douglasville late at night. We talked, we laughed, we reminisced, and of course we made memories. It might be another 3 years, and it might be a hassle getting everyone together, but I have no doubt that us and our cruise family will be forever friends. The kind of friends that travel 12 hours just to catch up.