College: Week 1

Today marks exactly one week of life in the dorm.

To be honest, it feels like I've been here for months now. It feels like home. Without a doubt, this is where I belong. I'll admit that the first few nights of sleep were a little rocky, but I'm proud to say that last night I got a solid six hours.

Now don't go accusing me of staying up late with friends or anything like that─I tried to sleep, I really did. I just couldn't. I was tired, I closed my eyes, but I just couldn't sleep.

But you know what─when it comes to all that I've experienced, the lack of sleep is worth it. This has been one of the best weeks of my life thus far. (Sorry Mom and Dad, Disney World's been beat out.)

So I know it's only been one week, and I only have four days of classes under my belt, but in that short amount of time I've already realized a few things:

1) I know a lot of people at Northwestern.

Five minutes didn't go by without me talking to someone I already knew. And once I started meeting new people, and learning new names, the cycle just kept continuing. The creepy thing is that there are a lot more people on campus who know me, even though I don't know them. The brave ones say hi to me by name, but I'm convinced there's an army out there that's too shy to make that initial approach. 

For those who didn't know, my mother's been teaching at Northwestern for over 20 years now. She's got quite a few students─quite a few students who know a lot about me. She might as well change the name of her course from "Introduction to Abstract Algebra" to "Introduction to Jamie Jongerius". Word on the street is that a new class-time favorite is sharing "Jamie sightings" on campus.

2) I'm a very talkative person.

I mean, I guess I already knew that, but it has definitely been reiterated this past week. I've learned to schedule a slot of time for meals because it usually takes a good forty-five minutes for me to finish off my food in-between conversation.

3) I have some of the best friends in the world.

And to think we've only known each other for what─seven days? I don't know if I've laughed this much in my whole life.

4) Time management is going to be very important.

I need to get my homework done, but I also want to hang out with my friends. And I need to eat, and sleep, and shower, and go to class, and wash my clothes, and read lots of books, and...you get the idea. Some of these commitments take longer than others. (I'm talking about the homework people.)

I'd also like to keep up with the blog. We'll just have to see how that goes.

5) Studying in the dorm isn't always the best idea.

It's not that it's always loud in the dorm, but most of the time it is. There are a lot of girls living in the dorm. In most cases, when you get a group of girls together, they like to talk, and laugh, and sing, and a whole lot of other stuff that makes a lot of noise. I would know, I'm one of those girls.

I have discovered during my work study that the library is a very peaceful place full of quiet studying. (Though I will admit that when I went there to work on a project last night, I ended up talking to someone for a good three or four hours. Woops. Okay, we met there for a class interview, hence the talking, but it wasn't like we HAD to keep talking for that long. Buuut, it was a good conversation, I couldn't just cut it off like that, you know?)

6) Study breaks are very important.

At this very moment my friends and I are having ourselves a little study break (well, more like an evening off) because...
  a) it is Friday AND
b) it is Friday

Studying for long periods of time can be very overwhelming at times all the time, and sometimes you just need to walk away and go say hi to someone down the hall. Or you can go out and get some ice cream, that's pretty good too.


Well my friends, that's all for now. Time to watch a good movie with an even gooder group of friends. (Just to clarify for my mother, I am aware that the correct choice of wording in this situation would be greater. Thank you.)

Welcome to my home: room 214.

[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]


If you liked this post, you might like...
What It's Like To Have The Worst Roommate Ever
The Pros & Cons of Living In a Dorm Room
What It's Like To Go To College In Your Hometown
Is My First Semester of College Really Over?
An Open Letter To My Freshman Year Of College


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