Keep Calm and Roar On

Today was the day we had all been waiting for - we would finally move out of Hotel Beacon and into our dorms at Columbia University. Tomi and I awoke at 10 in the morning and organized our suitcases. Then we went to the lobby and went with the rest of the cohort to the local diner to eat breakfast. I had a wonderful breakfast of waffles with scrambled eggs.

After we all finished eating, we went back up to our hotel rooms to get our luggage and take it downstairs. We took two taxis to Columbia University, and in no time, we were there. I must say that the university is absolutely gorgeous, it looks just as beautiful in person than it does in the brochures. Blue and white balloons were decorated around the campus and RAs were running around, giving directions or getting a slice of pizza. We were directed to John Jay, where we checked in, received our room keys, and even met the Dean of the summer programs! Everyone except for Morvarid is in Carman Hall, and Aurea and I are even on the same floor.

Columbia University!

Welcome to Columbia!

We took our luggage up to our dorms, where I found I was sharing a suite with six girls! The two girls in the room next to mine are Nas and Tori. Nas is from Washington, D.C. and is taking Intro to Business, Financing, and Economics. She also participated in the Summer@Brown program at Brown University last year - what a coincidence! Even though I didn't meet her there, it was interesting to know she went. She took a financing course there as well. Tori is from New Jersey and is taking Biomedical Engineering. The girls who are in the room that is connected to our suite are Jennifer and Sangia. Jennifer is from Ohio and is taking Biomedical Engineering and Sangia is from Hong Kong. She was originally going to take Leadership and Law but plans to transfer into Creative Writing. My roommate arrived much later due to flight delays, but she is absolutely wonderful. Her name is Nathalie and she is from Lebanon! She is already so sweet and loving. She is taking Intro to Business, Financing, and Economics. We've bonded pretty well.

A wonderful welcome

My side of the room when I first walked in

The amazing view!

In front of Columbia's library

After settling into our dorms, Ms. L took us to Pinkberry (think Yogurtland) and brought us all frozen yogurt. We then went to the bookstore, where we bought school supplies and one piece of Columbia clothing that the ILC pays for. I bought a long-sleeved Columbia shirt. While we were originally going to buy our textbooks, they were not in storage. We'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to get them.

And then came the time that we "cut the umbilical cord", as Ms. L put it. I'm sad that we're not going to be all together anymore, but we're going to meet with her every day after class. We also have two more dinners, one with Vassar and the other with Columbia, a boat cruise, and Fourth of July adventures, so she's not completely gone from us!

Once we had gone back to the dorms and acquainted ourselves with more of our floormates, our R.A.'s came and gave us wristbands so we could go to the welcoming barbecue. I satisfied my growling stomach with a head of corn, two sodas, a hamburger, and a hot dog (to say I was hungry is an understatement). The food was delicious! My R.A. is Kristen, and this is her second year being an R.A. for the Columbia program. She just graduated from Auburn University and plans to go to graduate school for speech therapy.

Some of the delicious food served to us at the barbecue

After the barbecue, we headed out to the Main Green, where Kristen and the rest of the suite sat on steps of Hamilton Hall and explained R.A. trips and behavioral standards. Essentially, Columbia is very strict and will expel you for any slight violation of the rules. However, the rules seem very straightforward and I am sure everyone will behave accordingly. After that, Kristen treated us to Pinkberry, and even though I had already been there once, I definitely enjoyed another frozen yogurt.

Once we got back to the dorms we were pretty much free to do what we wanted. I went with Aurea and Lucas to the local convenience store to buy laundry detergent. I plan on doing all my laundry tomorrow; I desperately need to. When we got back, I took a small nap to catch up on some sleep but spent time with Aurea in the laundry room, keeping her company. Lucas came as well, and once they finished putting their laundry in the dryer, we went outside to the Gabezo, where a huge meet-and-greet function was forming. Lenny joined us as well, and I met a lot of floormates. I also saw Morvarid and she introduced us to one of her roommates, Demi, who is a sweetheart and from Taiwan. We went in Morvarid's dorm, which is in Hartley Hall, and were jealous behind belief! Her dorm is HUGE and there is even a common room and a kitchen! Can you say UPGRADE? We all agreed that we would definitely have pizza parties in there.

Then the time for curfew came around and I was pretty much done for the day. Tomorrow we have to rise early to go to orientation and be sent off to our first day of class! I'm excited to see what Constitutional Law has for me. I met some of my classmates already - two of them are from Cairo! - and I can't wait to meet all of them. I have such a good feeling about Columbia University...sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember that this is really happening and isn't just a fabulous dream.