Well, one of the many fantastic things about Hopkins is that you don't have your first class until your first week here is over. We have orientation built right into our experience {there isn't any traveling here during the summer for orientation, and then leaving, and then coming back for move-in}, so you have an entire week to meet people and adjust to living away before you have to deal with homework and responsibility.
My first day was very, very strange, and actually kind of hard to remember. I woke up in New Jersey around 8AM, got dressed and all ready, finished packing, and then pretty much loaded my entire life {or so it seemed - there were so many boxes!} into my uncle's SUV and our car. My entire family came over that morning so we all talked and said our goodbyes and stuff {and cried! I'm not going to lie, lol, it's hard to leave home}, and then we {my uncle and aunt in one car; my mom, my dad, and I in the other} left. We drove for about an hour and stopped at a rest stop to eat hoagies and chips that my aunt and uncle packed for us, and then drove another hour and a little bit to Hopkins. Once we got there, we drove up Greenway {the street that connects University Parkway to 34th Street, the street where Wolman's entrance is located} where a group of students were waiting to do ALL the work for us. Kate {JHU_Kate} was actually the student that took me across campus to get my ID card and all my other information while other students unloaded my parents' and uncle's car and directed them to where they had to go. Once I got all my important stuff, I came to Wolman and went up to my room for the very first time. My roommate and her mother were already there so I got to meet them {amongst all of my boxes, which had already been brought to my room for me!}, and my parents and aunt and uncle came up from their "parents reception" about 30 minutes later. So we unpacked, said goodbye to my aunt and uncle, and just chilled. I think there was an orientation activity - a student address or something - that night, but I can't really remember. It was a whirlwind! You feel so many things - excitement, nerves, happiness, sadness, etc. - and you do so many things - moving in, walking around a new campus that you don't really know yet, meet so many new people - that it's hard to remember every single thing.
My first college class ever was my history class this semester, History of Occidental Civilization. There really isn't much to say .. it's work, from the very first day. You don't have that first day of school where teachers hand out papers and have little welcome parties; sometimes you have a half hour where you introduce yourselves, where you're from, what you're studying {in your smaller classes}, but for the most part you jump right in.
I was EXTREMELY pleased with my professors. Even my TAs, which made me a little nervous at first since they are like second-year grad students and not professors, are really professional and very approachable. They actually do care about you and want you to do well, so they offer office hours weekly and are always available by email as well. That was one thing I was worried about {in addition to everything else, lol} - I had great relationships with my high school teachers and even talk to some of them still, so I was worried about being just another student. In most of my classes, the professors really invest a lot into each of their students. So that's a good thing!
Umm .. what else. I think that's it! I guess I'll just finish up by saying that I had a really hard time getting used to college in general. It's an entirely different experience than anything else I had ever done before so it was really foreign at first, but I'm really enjoying it now that I've settled into classes and have found great ways to get involved. :D
