Losing sight of Ohio...& must haves for moving in!

 Well! 
 It's been officially a week since I have been a Anderson University college student! 

This is such a pivotal time of my life...

When I thought of college I really didn't think about how much different it would be from my everyday life. It's so crazy the amount of freedom that I have, and so far, I think I'm handling it pretty well...

  I choose to have a random roommate, and I'm so happy! Her name is Adrian and she currently lives/lived in New York. We get along so well and have a solid friendship. I feel like I have been here and have known her more than a week. She had family that graduated from AU as well as me. We are part of the "Legacy" and got matching T-shirts today..very cool! 

ONCE A RAVEN,ALWAYS A RAVEN

It's crazy that of all the colleges in the world, I picked a small Christian college in the middle of Indiana. AU is associated with The Church of God. My mom, and many other family members are alums. I've grown up hearing about it and when it came time to look at colleges, I of course checked it out and I fell in love! I feel so at home here and I can't imagine myself any where else. 

The hardest part of going to college wasn't the applying part and writing the essays, and it wasn't even packing or trying to fit your whole life into a car. 

It was saying goodbye to everything that I knew at home. 

There was so many "last" hangouts and way to many tearful nights that I had to say goodbye to my dearest friends, who have been by my side growing up. 

And saying goodbye to my family? There's not really an adjective to explain my feelings. It was excitedness that I was at that point in my life where it was time to live on my own but then there was that underlying sadness that I would never live like I had with them again.

 I am so grateful to have such a wonderful family that made my college entry easy and supported and helped me every step of the way. It makes me tear up with happiness because I have such an awesome team of Leaches in California, Maryland, and Ohio cheering me on everyday.

Sorry for the sappiness. It's an emotional time! 

I think that's when it really hit me, that not only was I starting a new chapter in my life, but so was everyone else around me. Change was happening whether we liked it or not and there wasn't anything we could do about it. 

We drove to Indiana a day before move in day and stayed with my great Aunt Elaine nearby campus. It will be really nice to have family only a half hour away. So on move in day, my mom, grandma and cousin David helped me make my dorm room it's own while grandpa stayed home with Bethany in Ohio and graciously took care of her, fed and took her to school.

Mom helping me unpack boxes

Grandma helping organize the chaos

The AU football players took all my boxes and everything that I packed up to my room! It was soo nice. They also helped my roomie loft her bed.

Here's a rough view of Adrian and I's dorm!  

My side of the room! 

I raised my bed a lot to have a lot of space for underbed storage. There I put all my winter clothes, my fridge, my snacks in a bin and other stuff. 

Off the top of my head, for kids going to college some things you may not have on your list to bring to college would be: 

• A Brita filter pitcher- Sometimes you just want a cold glass of water, and the water on campus may not be the best to consume straight of the tap. I use my pitcher for making my tea in the morning as well as filling up my water bottle for class. 

• A lanyard and ID holder- I had a AU lanyard already when I got on campus, but I didn't realize how often I would need my ID. At least for my college, I use my ID for my meals and for getting into my dorm. So it's nice to have it in an ID holder on your lanyard so you dont have to constantly dig for your wallet and struggle getting it out of it's pocket. 

• Seating!- It's really nice having a futon for people to sit on when they visit you in your room. Even if it's just stools like that black one in the picture above. Especially during open house hours when boys come. You don't want your bed to be the only option for seating. That's just awkward.

• Towel head wraps- This is mostly for girls with long hair, but my roommate and I both have these small towel head wraps to use after getting out of the shower instead of using another towel. We got them at Bed Bath and Beyond. It saves space in your drawers, and in the washer and dryer!

• Extra lighting! All you have is these bright flourescent lights, in the nighttime we usually just have this going and it provides perfect lighting. I got this at Target for $14. SCORE.

• A floor mat- This will be even more useful in the winter so as not to bring that much dirt or snow into our room.

My roomate, Adrian's side of the room. She brought a futon! YAY

We also have a pet! Named Frankie. He's a beta fishy.

Love my shnazzy printer!

The view down the hall 

My challenge on our white board outside our room

So far I like all my classes! I'm taking two Communication art classes for my major, Spanish, Math, English, Modern dance class, and I made the Wind Ensemble!

I haven't made up my mind about my minor yet, but I don't need to think about that yet. However, I'm thinking something along the lines of International relations. I'm still deciding. 

I also joined a leadership class group called Fellows. It's a semester long group that meets during the evening on a weekday and it goes through how you can be a leader on campus. It also is a great way to lead up to being an RA (resident assistant), a discipleship coordinator or a peer mentor. 

Next week I am also trying out for the AU dance team that dances at home football games as well as basketball games. I'm also trying out for playing the keyboard at chapel during worship! I really could use some encouragement and prayer, cause I'm really nervous! 

I just wanted to update all you faithful readers to another part of losing sight of the shore! I'll be back soon with some updates on more college life, but for now I need to hit the hay. I'm starting my church hunting tomorrow. If you guys have any questions on this new chapter of life, just leave a comment below! 

Much love, 

Marisa