OU Orientation

A few notes about Ohio University:

--It is not Oklahoma University or Ohio State University, and it is certainly not a "lesser branch of Ohio State University." You've probably heard about OSU because it's the biggest college in America (with 60,000 students), and it has a famous football team. OU is also a very large school compared to the rest of the world (with 20,000 students) and is one of the oldest in the country. We're also better.

--It is frequently voted one of the most beautiful campuses in America. Save the national parks around my house, OU is, in my opinion, the prettiest place that has ever existed. It's a big, open, secluded town in Appalachia with mountainous hills in every direction, vast patches of thick green grass, and ancient trees that change brilliant colors in the fall. All the buildings and streets are worn red brick. Whereas the local university I took classes at during high school was all glass and whitewashed cinderblock, the OU dining hall I've visited has dark wood paneling on the walls and long tables with comfy green chairs. The mealtime atmosphere is so Hogwartsian, I wouldn't be surprised if the lights were replaced with floating candles. Though I haven't yet seen the inside of my dorm, it's a gorgeous brick building in the (still sunlit) umbra of trees that line the sidewalk and create a canopy over the street. The campus is very similar to Joey Potter's fictional college in Dawson's Creek, except OU is SO beautiful, it'd be less believable on screen.

--I'd always worried before that perhaps I chose OU because, as my siblings all went, it was easy. I feared I'd be suffocated by the wild party scene for which it's known, or that I'd feel like I was constantly at a Cool Kids' Party that I hadn't been invited to. But sitting in classrooms with other Creative Writing majors, listening to them discuss their passions for linguistics and literature in their downtime, I feel truly comfortable. Instead of characteristically rolling my eyes when the upperclassmen advisors tell us that pretty soon Athens will feel more like home than home will, I can seriously understand where they're coming from. I think I could feel at home here. 

--While I will forever despise having handouts read aloud to me by some doofus with a microphone, today's orientation didn't make me want to puke. This, I'm going to assume, is a good sign. Justin Timberlake found during his college orientation that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with his school at the time, and I think he's been waiting for me to tell him I feel the same about mine. But even after session after session about scheduling classes and not drinking and remembering to use the library, I felt energized and excited. It's as if high school never happened, and I'm back buying fresh crayons for third grade, when school was the greatest thing imaginable.

As content as I am, I'm also really tired from huffing up the hills all day long. I'm going to go take a good shower and sleep sleep sleep before round two of orienting myself tomorrow morning.

Chipotle burritos this year: 26

S'mores this summer: 6

Subscribers: 19,196

Bye, guys! Hopefully I'll see you tomorrow. <3