First off, before I start, I want to you to remember on this day, all those who perished at Pearl Harbor today, 74 years ago. Also, remember the six innocent men and women who were slain in the Long Island Railroad Massacre tonight, 22 years ago.
My fourth Memory Monday is going to be about something that happened pretty recently, and something that started me on the next chapter of my life. I am going to talk about my College Orientation for Hofstra University's Class of 2019.
I had just graduated two days prior from high school, and I have to say, I was a little nervous to go into a mock 'college' setting. I walked into the welcome area and received my group name, and my room key. I walked into the room, and I was alone. I felt a plethora of feelings, from excitement, to sadness, to nervous, to a bit of fear. I saw another backpack on the other desk, so I knew that I was going to be sharing this room with someone else for two days. Then, the door opened, and I met my first friend in college, Erik. Guy was tall, haha. He said hello, and we talked, and became quick friends. I found out that he lived out east on Long Island.
As he and I walked to our orientation leader's, or OL's, dorm, again that nervous feeling set in. All of a sudden, these thoughts and others came into my head. 'What if the other people in the group don't like me?' 'Be nice.' 'Be smart.' 'Don't be weird.' I walked into the room, saw all of these strangers, and instantly, all of my fears were gone, because I realized two things. The first thing was, wether or not I want to do this, or that I'm afraid or not, there is no stopping what I had to do, which was got to orientation and learn how to go to college. The second thing was, we were all in the same boat. Not knowing anyone, and only having each other in the group to lean on.
I stood in the door frame and slowly shuffled into the corner. The girl at the end of the sofa then said something like 'well, who are you?' That later turned out to be Kate. I then sat on the bed, with another girl who was already there, and introduced myself to the humbled crowd. There were three girls on the sofa to my right, a girl in the corner, a guy sitting down near Erik, and then a guy on a truck across from me. These girls and three guys, were about to become some of my closest friends in college. I started cracking jokes and being me, as I was just days prior in high school. Erik stood in the corner with this other guy named Maxwell. I then introduced myself to the girl on the bed with me, to my left. Her name was Ciera. Then I got to know the three girls on the sofa, who were Veronica, Olivia, and Kate. We became so close those two days, and became excellent friends. In the corner over there was Pamela, and I then got to know Max, the smooth-talking guy from LA across the way from me. He later turned out to be my roommate and good friend.
We went around to all of the mock classes and informational meetings for being a college student. We walked around the campus for hours, until we were able to hang out on our own terms. We then got together after dinner to listen to music, play Cards Against Humanity, hang out, and be social, as we learned about everyone's past, and hopes and dreams. It was a beautiful thing. Eight strangers from all the around the country, with different backgrounds, and cultures. People with different successes and failures, and different heartbreaks and losses, all coming together in a room, all pouring out their hearts and souls to one another, to people they didn't even know twelve hours ago. We exchanged phone numbers, and followed each other on several platforms of social media. We felt so cool, and so care free, and should have. Life is too short, and we knew that, so that's why we had a good time. We shared a lot of laughs, a few tears, and listened to one another. It was genuine friendship, in its most purest form.
That went into the wee hours of the morning, and then after we all went back to our respective rooms. I sat and talked with Max, and learned he was an amateur rapper. I started creating beats with him and Erik, who was into that sort of thing too, and we had something going there. The next day we all met up again, and did the same mundane and boring official stuff, but then had fun again that night. There was a group barbecue and that's when we met my other friends from orientation. These four girls named Sarah, Ava, Annie, and Arielle. We sat and talked, I cracked the jokes and told the stories that the girls liked last night, and they told me to tell them again to these girls, and they enjoyed them as well. We took pictures and had a blast. We then had a dance afterwords, and then spilt up for the summer. We woke up the next day separately, made our class schedule separately, and then left the school separately, and went back home separately.
(I know very morbid and gloom!)
I texted and stayed in touch with some of these guys and girls, and I am so happy that I did. It was during this time that I was introduced, by Olivia, to her blog, something that I read everyday for months, and something that was the main point of influence in me creating this one. I stayed in touch with all the other girls, and Max, as we talked about the upcoming semester, and other various topics. I wouldn't change any second of these two days for anything. I loved those two days, and more importantly, I love the people that I met, and I am proud that I get to call these wonderful people every day, my friends.
Would you be afraid to start college not knowing anybody? Would you want to be introduced to people, or introduce yourself?
My fourth Memory Monday is going to be about something that happened pretty recently, and something that started me on the next chapter of my life. I am going to talk about my College Orientation for Hofstra University's Class of 2019.
I had just graduated two days prior from high school, and I have to say, I was a little nervous to go into a mock 'college' setting. I walked into the welcome area and received my group name, and my room key. I walked into the room, and I was alone. I felt a plethora of feelings, from excitement, to sadness, to nervous, to a bit of fear. I saw another backpack on the other desk, so I knew that I was going to be sharing this room with someone else for two days. Then, the door opened, and I met my first friend in college, Erik. Guy was tall, haha. He said hello, and we talked, and became quick friends. I found out that he lived out east on Long Island.
As he and I walked to our orientation leader's, or OL's, dorm, again that nervous feeling set in. All of a sudden, these thoughts and others came into my head. 'What if the other people in the group don't like me?' 'Be nice.' 'Be smart.' 'Don't be weird.' I walked into the room, saw all of these strangers, and instantly, all of my fears were gone, because I realized two things. The first thing was, wether or not I want to do this, or that I'm afraid or not, there is no stopping what I had to do, which was got to orientation and learn how to go to college. The second thing was, we were all in the same boat. Not knowing anyone, and only having each other in the group to lean on.
I stood in the door frame and slowly shuffled into the corner. The girl at the end of the sofa then said something like 'well, who are you?' That later turned out to be Kate. I then sat on the bed, with another girl who was already there, and introduced myself to the humbled crowd. There were three girls on the sofa to my right, a girl in the corner, a guy sitting down near Erik, and then a guy on a truck across from me. These girls and three guys, were about to become some of my closest friends in college. I started cracking jokes and being me, as I was just days prior in high school. Erik stood in the corner with this other guy named Maxwell. I then introduced myself to the girl on the bed with me, to my left. Her name was Ciera. Then I got to know the three girls on the sofa, who were Veronica, Olivia, and Kate. We became so close those two days, and became excellent friends. In the corner over there was Pamela, and I then got to know Max, the smooth-talking guy from LA across the way from me. He later turned out to be my roommate and good friend.
We went around to all of the mock classes and informational meetings for being a college student. We walked around the campus for hours, until we were able to hang out on our own terms. We then got together after dinner to listen to music, play Cards Against Humanity, hang out, and be social, as we learned about everyone's past, and hopes and dreams. It was a beautiful thing. Eight strangers from all the around the country, with different backgrounds, and cultures. People with different successes and failures, and different heartbreaks and losses, all coming together in a room, all pouring out their hearts and souls to one another, to people they didn't even know twelve hours ago. We exchanged phone numbers, and followed each other on several platforms of social media. We felt so cool, and so care free, and should have. Life is too short, and we knew that, so that's why we had a good time. We shared a lot of laughs, a few tears, and listened to one another. It was genuine friendship, in its most purest form.
That went into the wee hours of the morning, and then after we all went back to our respective rooms. I sat and talked with Max, and learned he was an amateur rapper. I started creating beats with him and Erik, who was into that sort of thing too, and we had something going there. The next day we all met up again, and did the same mundane and boring official stuff, but then had fun again that night. There was a group barbecue and that's when we met my other friends from orientation. These four girls named Sarah, Ava, Annie, and Arielle. We sat and talked, I cracked the jokes and told the stories that the girls liked last night, and they told me to tell them again to these girls, and they enjoyed them as well. We took pictures and had a blast. We then had a dance afterwords, and then spilt up for the summer. We woke up the next day separately, made our class schedule separately, and then left the school separately, and went back home separately.
(I know very morbid and gloom!)
I texted and stayed in touch with some of these guys and girls, and I am so happy that I did. It was during this time that I was introduced, by Olivia, to her blog, something that I read everyday for months, and something that was the main point of influence in me creating this one. I stayed in touch with all the other girls, and Max, as we talked about the upcoming semester, and other various topics. I wouldn't change any second of these two days for anything. I loved those two days, and more importantly, I love the people that I met, and I am proud that I get to call these wonderful people every day, my friends.
Would you be afraid to start college not knowing anybody? Would you want to be introduced to people, or introduce yourself?
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Peace and Love,
DGS
Quotes of the Day: "Best friends are people who make your problems, their problems, just so you don't have to go through them alone" - Unknown
"A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails" - Donna Roberts
DGS
Quotes of the Day: "Best friends are people who make your problems, their problems, just so you don't have to go through them alone" - Unknown
"A friend knows the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails" - Donna Roberts