On Wednesday, I drove eight hours to get here. We left at 11:50 and then drove straight on, trying to remain under eighty, until 8:26. So that's eight hours and a half. Whatever. I had been hoping for at least a two hour break at some point, but in then end, I was the chauffeur the entire way. My sister enjoyed my company, the free Starbuck's, and the privilege of paying for the gas (not that it was that much). She's afraid of semi-trailers and three lane highways. And of getting gas... Plus, I think that she was nervous about the trip and not knowing the way (although we had clear directions--the roads were not clear) But anyway, we made it, the last two hours going nearly eighty miles an hour whenever I could have the chance--I was tired of sitting and having to think about the road the entire way. And yes I did go ninety a couple of times. But we were going down a hill--no big deal.
Other than having to drive the entire time, I enjoyed talking to my older sister about her new (and first) boyfriend. She was excited about talking about him, and we must have talked about them for a good two or three hours on and off. A good chunk of the drive was taken up. And the Starbuck's really wasn't a big deal because eariler in the summer, my younger sister and I were at the Mennonite Convention in Columbus, and were persuaded by Matt Lehman to sing opera at the Hesston Booth and we got free five dollar Starbuck's cards, so the drinks that Anna and I got at Starbuck'c only cost us a total of $1.04, and on the receipt there was a stamp that said I could get another cold drink for only two dollars after 2:00, so when we stopped again, I got one of the new Vivanno Strawberry Banana Smoothie. It was wonderful. I paid a total of $3.00 for three different drinks. The best deal on Starbuck's I have ever gotten.
Anyway, Thursday came around. I think I went to bed really early Wednesday night because I was so mentally drained from driving for so long. Of course, really early is ten thirty. But still.
So I woke up at eight thirty, probably because my sister Anna was already packing up some of her stuff--in the room we were sharing, to go on an overnight hiking trip with her long-time friend Natalie, who surprised us all when she arrived with a bright magenta buzz cut. (Her reasoning was that she was going to have to be a big person soon, so she needed to have fun before that.)
Anyway, I decided to work on decorating my notebooks for class. When you shop at Walmart for the .25 notebooks and are boring and flimsy, you HAVE to decorate them in some way, so I was working on that. Grandma was working on her sermon for Sunday, and I decided to finish that up, even though I had plans of walking over to EMU in the morning. We decided to go for lunch at the Bowl of Good. It's a restaurant with different types of ethnical food that come in bowls. It's near EMU, so I thought that it would be a young adult hangout. But when we got there everyone was grey haired! But either way it was a good place. The food was excellent and they are very pro-be-good-to-the-environment.
Grandma dropped me off at the Campus Center, and I had to refocus my plans because I hadn't really thought about what I was going to do when I actually got there. I had plenty of questions and things to do but couldn't combine my thoughts. I was a little nervous and felt slightly out of place. But I figured it out. I went into the Campus Center and first found the rooms where my classes were going to be. Then I went back down the the first floor and found the Human Resources center. My aunt works there, so I said, "Hi," and then we spoke for a little while and then she told me where the registrar's office was and I figured out where the admissions office was. I went over there and found out that my admissions counselor was out to lunch, so I walked to the large building which has the coffee shop and the bookstore and the coach's offices. I went to the bookstore and got the books that I needed that were specific to EMU, then I ventured downstairs, precautiously, to the cross-country coach's office. I was really nervous. I always get nervous when I'm not sure about something, and I want to do it, but I dread the idea of it at the same time. But I got my nerve up, and I went and talked to him. I don't feel like I would fit in with the team, but I really want to stay in shape for me. So as of now, I'm still not sure if this is something that I am willing to do. Running to race has been a hatred for me in the past, and since I do not want to hate anything that I do religiously, I may decide to run in the morning by myself, with the sweet music that my love put on my ipod.
After that meeting, I went back to the Admissions office, where Mark Risser still was not back from his lunch, so I sat down and was looking at last year's yearbook. Good stuff. Anyway, eventually he arrived, gave me a EMU shirt (WOO) and then proceeded to direct me to the guy in the Registrar's office who knew what I was doing with all my credits-- Dave Detrow. So when he got out of his meeting, I met with him. We talked over my classes and the fact of my graduating it three years, which he said was possible because of the freaking sixty credits that I brought with me. So if I stick with my Biology major and Music minor I can and will do it. The only reason majoring in Music would make it more difficult was the fact that Music classes and Biology labs clash. So time would mess around with that stuff. I'm meeting him again in a couple hours to go over my ratings sheet (like my three year plan). He told me to head over to the Music department after that.
I had concerns with my Introduction to Music Theory class because I read the description in the course catalog and looked at the book and I figured that I could test out of it, so I didn't buy the book when I was in the bookstore. So there's an entrance exam that I can take to opt out of it. The only problem is filling the two credit gap in my schedule and so that is another thing that Mr. Detrow and I are going to talk about today.
I went to the music department and found out the name of my piano teacher who I still need to email to set up a lesson time, and I also found out when the exemption exam was, but I forgot. I think it's around 10:30 on Monday. Still not sure. I may go over the the Music department again, and ask again. Or go through my stuff and see if it's on the pile of information.
After that I continued to go around the campus to find where my classes were to be held, so I ended up in Hartzler Library in the basement and I couldn't quite find room 121. But I walked past the ID table, and the lady working there had no one, so she asked me if I'd like to make an ID. Stuttering through my "I'm a first year and I'll do it during orientation" statement, she said I could do it then anyway. So I did, which was good because I didn't like the first picture that she took so she let me take another one, which I would not have been able to do if I came during orientation. So that was good.
I walked over to the Suter Science Center, and found where my classes were in that building. It was the most confusing building so far but luckily my biology and chemistry lectures are in the same room. I went to the office because I couldn't for the life of me remember what the name of the teacher in charge of work study was, so I found the office by way of them.
I was the first one who he spoke to, so I had first pick on the work-study options. I found on that was perfect for me--I'm hopefully going to be a research assistant for a neuroanatomist and help with her study of the frogs. It's perfect. :)
After that, I figured out which of the dorms was Elmwood and then I walked back to Grandma and Grandpa's house. It was hot, but I remembered the way.
There was still some things that I needed to do. But there is still today so I'm excited and still a little but nervous, but I have found my bearings A LOT more than before.
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